Expert: Mark Janus - 3/26/2004

Question
Hello,

Is it possible to design a wing, so at a given time, it is traveling
upwards at the same velocity as it is traveling foward? Is this just a
balence of forces between lift, air resistance on the wing pushing
downward, and gravity? To me it would seem plausible, because if the net
force on take off is upward... the wing should accelerate in that
direction and eventually reach the same velocity upwards as accross...
is this possible? Thanks.

Anil Rohatgi

Answer
Sure that is possible, it's all based on the amount of lift produced and the weight of the wing doing the lifting...  All wings have to "rotate" about their axis though in order to climb, so the wind will always be "hitting" the lower surface of the wing to produce lift.....  What you've described would require the wing to be highly inclined to the wind....

Hope that helps,
mj