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On the Minimum Induced Drag of Wings -or- Thinking Outside the BoxOf all the types of drag, induced drag is associated with the creation and generation of lift over wings. Induced drag is directly driven by the span load that the aircraft is flying at. The tools by which to calculate and predict induced drag we use were created by Ludwig Prandtl in 1903. Within a decade after Prandtl created a tool for calculating induced drag, Prandtl and his students had optimized the problem to solve the minimum induced drag for a wing of a given span, formalized and written about in 1920. This solution is quoted in textbooks extensively today. Prandtl did not stop with this first solution, and came to a dramatically different solution in 1932. Subsequent development of this 1932 solution solves several aeronautics design difficulties simultaneously, including maximum performance, minimum structure, minimum drag loss due to control input, and solution to adverse yaw without a vertical tail. This presentation lists that solution by Prandtl, and the refinements by Horten, Jones, Kline, Viswanathan, and Whitcomb.
Document ID
20110023801
Acquisition Source
Armstrong Flight Research Center
Document Type
Presentation
Authors
Bowers, Albion H.
(NASA Dryden Flight Research Center Edwards, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 25, 2013
Publication Date
September 4, 2011
Subject Category
Aircraft Design, Testing And Performance
Report/Patent Number
DFRC-E-DAA-TN4103
Meeting Information
Meeting: Experimental Soaring Association 2011 Western Workshop
Location: Tehachapi, CA
Country: United States
Start Date: September 2, 2011
End Date: September 5, 2011
Sponsors: Soaring Society of America
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.
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