Wing

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Modified Klingberg

While co-oping at NASA DFRC I learned about the Horten brothers and
specifically the improved handeling qualities of thier pure flying wing designs.
They accomplished this with a combination of high aspect ratio, high taper ratio,
and a non-linear wing twist. Using a vortex-lattus code, Al Bowers predicted that
most of the time the Horten Xc would not have adverse yaw, and in fact would
have proverse yaw at most lift coefficients. Adverse yaw is a tendency of the
aircraft to yaw the wrong direction with a roll input(ie. turns left when you roll
right). Since the Klingberg Wing has similar taper and aspect ratio, I decided to
build my Klingberg with the same wing twist as the Horten Xc.
The wing is a pleasure to fly! Video shows that it has no adverse yaw. To obtain
the new twist, I replaced the stand-up jig with a new one that gives a sin^3 wing
twist. The heights of the rib stations are:
root
rib#2
rib#3
rib#4
rib#5
rib#6
rib#7

2.90in
2.93
2.97
2.96
2.91
2.80
2.63

rib#8
rib#9
rib#10
rib#11
rib#12
rib#13

2.40
2.09
1.67
1.20
0.69
0.20

Here is what the jig looks like

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Wing

http://web.archive.org/web/20050213191156/http://pr.erau.edu/~all...

This jig determines the twist of the wing. It also causes the leading edge to bend
down at the tip. This gives a negative dihedral effect. To correct for this I
included a dihedral angle at the joint of the two wing halves of 4.5degrees.
I also changed the size and shape of the elevons so that the change in lift that
they produce would have the most positive effect on yaw. The combination of
twist and sweep causes an induced angle of attack on the outboard sections. This
causes the lift vector to be inclined foward. The down moving aileron causes an
increase in lift, thus an increased upward force AND an increased foward force. I
used a study of different elevon configurations for a flying wing of similar twist,
aspect ratio and taper to determine my elevon size and shape. My elevon includes
all of the tip block and has one less rib, the hinge line was also changed to be
parrallel to the trailing edge. The elevons have a width of 2.5 inches.

bottom view
My elevon hinge lines did not come out straight because of the new twist but this
is not a problem. Monocote hinges have worked well for me with a full length
strip on the top and tabs of covering on the bottom at the ends. Seal the edges of
the top strip with the elevon in the down position and seal the center of the top
strip and the bottom tabs with the elevon in the up position. After that don't
touch the hinge with the iron agian or the gap will shrink! The hinge gap due to
the curved hinge line is small and doesn't look bad.
The new twist makes the balsa wing sheeting much harder to put on. You will
need alot of pins. Do not use cardboard for the wing jig! I used sign board made
of foam and paper and it was almost to soft to use. Also, you must spray the
balsa with window cleaner multiple times to soften it.
My initial flights in Lancaster were successful thanks to excellent weather
forcasting of Casey Donahue, the greatest weatherman that ever lived and friend
of Captain Solo. I recently made some flights in the snow to determine the aft cg
limit (snow makes a soft crash). Currently, performance seems to be less than a
conventional 2-meter glider but I expect this will get better when the correct cg is
found. One of these days, I will measure the L/D of my Klingberg and the
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Wing

http://web.archive.org/web/20050213191156/http://pr.erau.edu/~all...

conventional glider for comparison. I plan to do this by shooting a landing from

a height of 20ft onto a field on a calm day and measuring the distance they go to
find the glide slope.
Tell me what you think
If you would like to read more of the theory behind the twist, click on the
Nurflugel link and go to Nurflugel Papers Section, then "A Retrospective: Flying
Wing Design Issues"
Other Links
Nurflugel
Chris Good's computer controlled N9M
Basic Design of Flying Wing Models
Andy McDonald's Flying Wing Page
Power Scale Soaring Model of Horten IX
Tons of RC Flying Wing Pictures
Huib's Aviation Books and Flying Wings Page
Ala Voladora flight movies
The.Wing.Is.The.Thing
Video of electric wing made from 747 parts
My Homepage

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