slowboat wrote: ↑Fri Feb 01, 2019 11:23 am
If everything else is kept the same, does more thickness=more lift?
In general:
Camber (meaning the "average" curve a line between the top and bottom of the wing got) is almost solely decisive for the max lift.
Meaning, if you have a very very thin curved wing, like a seagull wing can be, it will have the most lift and quite low drag too when riding at high lift.
It can not operate at low AOA's very well though, extreme drag here so going fast is impossible.
And also quite big stabs needed as the moment of torque is the "worst" on these.
Say you got a wing just like above on the top side (same curve), but flat on the bottom, thus a really thick wing instead, it will have somewhat less max lift actually.
BUT, it can operate at higher speeds (lower AOA) without being superslow, but not really fast either.
If you got a thin wing, with lower camber, it will be way better than both of above, for going fast, and also very stable and easy, thus the race choice.
Lastly, one could use a symmetrical (same curve on top as well as bottom side) really really thick profile, and get a lot of lift.
It will be the worst choice of all though, as you dont need the ability to ride "upside down", so it will have the most drag of all wings when lift - only at high speeds it can be a tad better (but still slow) than the seagull superthin high cambered wing, but way way more draggy than the two most common wings mentioned.
The thinner the wing, and the sharper the nose of the wing is, the more violent it will stall, and reverse, the thicker blunt wings will have a very easy soft stall, but cost is more drag.
These are some basic fundamentals about different wings and what they do best/worst
Peter