FT Spitfire wing tips ?
- Thread starter Bigeard
- Start date
Matthewdupreez
Legendary member
Don't bother... The actual chances that you damage the wing tips is extremely low... You're much more likely to damage the nose if the plane, than anything else.
I always fill in the under-camber part of the wing. Just fit in a piece of fb, makes the wing tip much stronger.
Matthewdupreez
Legendary member
but then you lose the lower stall speed tendencies of the plane
Matthewdupreez
Legendary member
the undercamb wingtips are there to prevent tip stalls.... if you close them in you would lose that benefit
I’ve never noticed that much difference in stall speed.but then you lose the lower stall speed tendencies of the plane
Matthewdupreez
Legendary member
oops sorry i meant tip stalls... where the one wing staals before the other and cause the plane to drop it's wing...
this is nasty to experience... and is almost unnoticeable on planes with undercamb
It dosn't matter what you call it, wing stall or tip stall, the terms are interchangeable. If you want to improve the stall characteristics of your plane, I'd move the CG forward and/or reduce the elevator throw.
Myself, I enjoy a little instability in my plane. I want the plane to stall at will. I tend to move the CG aft and add a bit of elevator throw. Maybe that is why I prefer a flat bottom wing to an undercambered wing.
Tench745
Master member
The undercambered wingtips are a simple solution to keep the wingtip flying longer than the root of the wing. It keeps tip stalls to a minimum.
Full scale aircraft usually will add some twist to the wing (called washout) or change the airfoil along the length of the wing.
You could laminate a second layer of foam to the underside of the top wing skin the thicken it up and make it a bit sturdier without getting rid of the undercamber. Haven't tried it myself, but I don't see why it wouldn't work.
Full scale aircraft usually will add some twist to the wing (called washout) or change the airfoil along the length of the wing.
You could laminate a second layer of foam to the underside of the top wing skin the thicken it up and make it a bit sturdier without getting rid of the undercamber. Haven't tried it myself, but I don't see why it wouldn't work.
SSgt Duramax
Junior Member
To answer the OP's question, I run a BBQ skewer to the tip of the wing. It doesn't keep it from getting dented/wrinkled, but it does keep it from completely failing.
Edit: Here are the wingtips of my P40. My 2 year old knocked it on to the ground wing first (slid sideways off the table on to cement) and some wrinkles but not broken.
Edit: Here are the wingtips of my P40. My 2 year old knocked it on to the ground wing first (slid sideways off the table on to cement) and some wrinkles but not broken.
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yeh grt the idea ,simple solution ,but it works . Thanks
Thanks for your reply Tench745 it all helps to understand the flying details . Just thought of another good idea instead of adding the extra thickness of FB . I would imagine you could use a thin wood veneer with its grain running with the length of the wing finish in a polyurethane varnish and painted for that added strength?
Monte.C
...
You don't have a cat? Blame it on the kid!
As long as we're sharing, here's a good one.
I just keep thinking planes are designed to provide optimal performance in the air, not tumbling across the lawn. They're designed to fly, not to crash. Before we go redesigning proven performers...
They repair real well and nobody got hurt. I walked away unhurt from every crash that produced the result you see here, and came back to fly again.
And eventually built NEW toy planes, and got bored with this one.
Matthewdupreez
Legendary member
I've got 8 cats... And unfortunately they love chewing on my foam board, and licking it😂😂You don't have a cat? Blame it on the kid!
As long as we're sharing, here's a good one.
View attachment 212939 View attachment 212940 View attachment 212941
I just keep thinking planes are designed to provide optimal performance in the air, not tumbling across the lawn. They're designed to fly, not to crash. Before we go redesigning proven performers...
They repair real well and nobody got hurt. I walked away unhurt from every crash that produced the result you see here, and came back to fly again.
And eventually built NEW toy planes, and got bored with this one.
SSgt Duramax
Junior Member
My 2 year old will throw them on the ground then axe kick them. I have lost planes like this.You don't have a cat? Blame it on the kid!
As long as we're sharing, here's a good one.
View attachment 212939 View attachment 212940 View attachment 212941
I just keep thinking planes are designed to provide optimal performance in the air, not tumbling across the lawn. They're designed to fly, not to crash. Before we go redesigning proven performers...
They repair real well and nobody got hurt. I walked away unhurt from every crash that produced the result you see here, and came back to fly again.
And eventually built NEW toy planes, and got bored with this one.
The BBQ skewer wasn't my idea. It is something nerdnic does on all his plans, I just adopted it for basically every plane I build. I had a nasty crash in the chipmunk and all it took was a heat gun and some woodglue to get the wing looking decent again, all of about 2 minutes of work.
Monte.C
...
I like your BBQ skewer. I'm just responding to the "How do I make my wingtips bulletproof so they don't get damaged when I repeatedly beat them with a hammer? And how does that affect the aerodynamic performance?"
It should be turned around: How should I design my wingtips for what I consider to be optimal performance characteristics? Then: Does this design make it structurally unsound under any normal flying conditions?
Monte.C
...
I heard that's why they make them so cute. So we don't kill them.
SSgt Duramax
Junior Member
I thought I was the only one who had come to that hypothesis.
