Peter_Frank wrote: ↑Fri May 10, 2019 5:41 pm
It doesnt work well if you want to ride at low speed, unless you have a wing with more area, was my message.
But the Stringy wing HAS more area, right?
Thus it can ride slow.
And also fast even when bigger, because of the low drag profile.
But will stall more abrupt than a similar sized thicker wing (or more rounded nose, can not see the nose profile).
Personally I also think I like and believe in thinner wings
PF
Lift comes from the camber and profile -- thick profile, more lift.
A flat plate with "fly" but will be more draggy than a similar sized proper wing because it needs AoA to work. IMO this is what was wrong with the Double Agent -- and why it ran into a top speed wall and wouldn't go any faster, no matter how much kite you used -- it was just a deflecting surface, not an actual wing.
Super-low t/C is important when you're talking about trans-sonic wings ... I don't think we're at that stage yet
Drag isn't an issue when lift increases. It's a ratio, after all. At the scales we're dealing with, I don't think it's an issue for a properly designed wing.
Axis is doing wider, higher aspect, lower volume wings for surf/SUP and reckon it's way better for pumping, but I think 820 is pushing it for width for kiting and reasonable length masts.
Heard it said that if you get the first 10% of the foil's profile right, the rest doesn't matter. /grainofsalt
I'd be interested in seeing how narrower but higher t/C wings perform.
Wing loading seems to be more relevant than drag here, because (if I understand it) for the same wing, a higher wingload pushes the cruising speed up. Which may explain why heavier riders like so much bigger wings -- we get to keep the low cruising speed.