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As a kid I had a great book with lots of science experiments in it called "Science Is" (Author: Susan V. Bosak) It had an entire section on airplanes but there
by bdg 4y ago
As a kid I had a great book with lots of science experiments in it called "Science Is" (Author: Susan V. Bosak)
It had an entire section on airplanes but there was one that absolutely destroyed my intuition about flight and to this day confuses adults whenever I get the chance to make it (something like a team building event where we need to make paper airplanes).
It's literally two hoops of paper and a stick. Here's a page I found with the design.
https://www.exploratorium.edu/science_explorer/hoopster.html https://www.exploratorium.edu/science_explorer/hoopster.html
- swagasaurus-rex 4y agoThe French C.450 Coleoptere had a cylinder wing which provided plenty of lift: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unz6mfjS4ws https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unz6mfjS4ws
- jhanschoo 4y agoLet me guess how this works: from the nose view, the paper strips being at one side cause the stick to angle toward it, since the center of mass is close to the stick than the center of the drag force due to the stick's relatively small cross section for its mass. This causes the craft to keep pitching up. In addition, the same difference in cross sections between the hoops and the the stick from the plan view give it roll stability. Meanwhile, the larger hoop being at the back causes more drag, giving it yaw stability.
- shard 4y agoIt's not clear from the webpage, but does it do something different from a paper airplane with just 1 hoop like this? https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/teach/activity/ring-wing-glider/ https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/teach/activity/ring-wing-glider...
- JKCalhoun 4y agoI would make variations of those ring gliders from an aluminum coke cans cut down to half-height, something heavy like dict tape on the leading edge to provide weight. You throw them fast and underhanded imparting a bit of spin — they'll sail across a gymnasium.
- JKCalhoun 4y agoThe two rings + stick design was also in "The Great International Paper Airplane Book": http://www.codex99.com/design/images/airplane/18_lg.jpg http://www.codex99.com/design/images/airplane/18_lg.jpg
- aidenn0 4y agoThat's two annular wings https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Closed_wing https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Closed_wing