High Aspect Ratio Wings

By Grant Hager
 What is Aspect Ratio?

• Length of wing compared to the chord of

the wing
• b= wingspan AR=b /S 2
• S = area of planform
 Chord of the Wing
• Chord is the straight line between the
trailing edge and center of curvature of the
leading edge
 High Aspect Ratio Wings

• Long and Narrow Wings

• More lift than low aspect ratio wings
Example
p of High
g Aspect
p Ratio Wings
g
 Problems with High Aspect Ratio
Wings
Wi
• Fuselage strain
• Maneuverability
• P
Parasitic
iti D
Drag
• Practicality
 Fuselage Strain
• High aspect ratio wings have more strain
on fuselage
• Can also interfere with aileron movement
 Maneuverability
• Lower roll rate than low aspect ratio wings
• Higher moment of inertia to overcome
before movement begins
 Parasitic Drag
• High aspect ratio wings have more
parasitic drag
• Slows plane down
• Friction
• Wing shape
 Practicality
• Not a lot of storage space under and in
wing
 Changing Aspect Ratio
• Flaps
• Increases chord length but no change in
wingspan
i llength
th
• Increases induced drag (slows plane
down)
• Increases lift generated
g
Daniel Bernoulli

Also by Grant Hager!

 (Very) Brief History
• Born in Groningen
Groningen, Netherlands on
February 8th, 1700
• Held chairs of medicine
medicine, metaphysics
metaphysics, and
natural physiology at University of Basel
until death
• Died on 28th March, 1782 in Basel,
S it l d
Switzerland
 Achievements
• Wrote Hydrodynamica
• Developed Bernoulli Principle
 Bernoulli’s Principle Applied to
Planes
Pl
• Calculate lift force on an air foil
• Calculate airspeed on plane through pilot
tube and static port
 Bibliography
• "Aspect Ratio (wing)." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 15 July 2010.
<http://en wikipedia org/wiki/Aspect ratio (wing)>
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspect_ratio_(wing)>.
• "Geometry Definitions." NASA - Title... Web. 16 July 2010.<http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-
12/airplane/geom.html>.
• aerospaceweb.org
• commons.wikimedia.org g
• petester.com/aeropics/airfoil.gif
• http://businessisrael.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/fuel-tank.jpg
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernoulli's_principle
• commons.wikimedia.org
• cdxetextbook.com