Tumblewing

Animation of tumblewing in flight.

A tumblewing is a paper airplane design which rotates about a horizontal axis. Its mode of flight is more akin to confetti than traditional fixed-wing aircraft; However, several model aircraft (see flettner airplane) have been built with tumbling wings for lift (force).[1] Tumbling wings generate lift by alternately flying and stalling as the angle of incidence changes with the spinning motion (see magnus effect and flettner rotor). Because it has no need for ballast, the tumblewing design has a lower wing loading and makes a good walkalong glider which is easy to make and fly. The first example of a tumblewing flown as a walkalong glider appears in the book Fantastic flight.[2] The Big Mouth[3] is another example of a tumblewing design which can be flown as a walkalong glider.

See also

References

  1. ↑ US Patent 3380689 Rudolph Bucher 1965 - "Stabilizing System for Aircraft"
  2. ↑ John M. Collins (2012). Fantastic flight. 10 Speed Press. pp. 122–126. ISBN 1580085776.
  3. ↑ How to build and fly a Big Mouth type tumblewing

External links