AboutPaul Soderman Expertise Aeronautics, Fluid Mechanics, Aeroacoustics, Noise Control, Muffler Design, Wind Tunnel Research.... I know nothing about India - do not ask about schools, jobs, application requirements, career choices, etc. for India. Please, no text message verbiage; I prefer full words in full sentences. Thanks.
Experience 38 years as research engineer at NASA
Publications AIAA, NASA
Education/Credentials B.S. and M.S. Aeronautical Engineering - U. of Washington
Graduate work Standford U.
Awards and Honors AIAA Associate Fellow (American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics)
Can you estimate how much lift is expected to increase in a small aircraft
flying at level flight and constant speed with constant wind resistance, if wing
loading would decrease with 10 - 15 % during flight, all other factors
remaining unchanged. I am looking only for a rough estimation. Also how
much longer is the airplane expected to glide with such an increase in lift?
Thanx a lot :)
Answer You haven't told me how you are changing wing loading. I can think of three ways to do it.
1. Reduce weight 10% by dropping a bomb or something. The lift would be almost unchanged so the aircraft would climb. The pilot would then reduce angle of attack or airspeed to regain level flight and the new lift would be 10% lower than the previous lift.
2. Reduce wing area somehow. The aircraft would sink, so the pilot would increase angle of attack or airspeed until level flight was obtained with the same lift as before.
3. Retract the flaps to reduce wing camber. The aircraft would sink again and so on.
Perhaps you are really asking about glide rate and not keeping level flight. For that situation we need to know the lift-to-drag ratio (L/D), which depends on which of the above scenarios you choose. The glide distance S is then:
S = h L/D where h is the altitude at start of glide. When you change wing loading you also affect lift and drag depending on how it is done. Your question is somewhat ill-posed because you can't change wing loading and keep all the factors you list unchanged.
Paul
