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aerodynamics help

Posted: Thu Dec 09, 2010 4:22 pm
by crazyraistlin
Hello, I am an 8th grade that is a science fair project about wingspan on a wood airplane. My question is that does wispan change the distance that the airplane glides. I need some help on how i can do this and how to measure this, and if you have the same style of question but different pleas gove it to me so i can see if i will do it. Thank you all :D

Re: aerodynamics help

Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 10:23 am
by audreyln
This sounds like a great project!

Here are some good resources on similar projects investigating the shape of airplane wings to get you started:
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/mentorin ... =26&t=4175
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... f=2&t=2460

One variable you will have to carefully control for is the total weight of the airplane. You will want your whole airplane to weigh the same for each test with different wingspans. However, adding a longer wing will increase the weight of your airplane. You might consider adding weights to your planes with shorter wings and taking them off when using longer wings that weigh more. Be careful not to unbalance your plane when adding weights.