Joa38
New member
- Apr 29, 2004
- 14
As a "poor mans wind tunnel" how useful are scale R/C models for designing a full size aircraft? The reynold's numbers are much lower so what can they tell you? You normally can't exactly fly them at super high airspeeds to bring the RN up to an equivalent value.
How about for stability calculations? Will say a 1/3 scale model behave similar to a full scale in the stability and control realm? How will it differ?
How big does the model have to be to get meaningful results? 1/10th, 1/4, 1/2, etc?
For the best results should the model be scaled perfectly (all dimensions evenly reduced) so that the areas go down by the square (1/3 scale areas go down to 1/9, etc)? How about for weight? Power?
Are there any online (or other) resources that show how to interpret results from scale models and convert them to what would be likely with a much larger aircraft?
Joa
How about for stability calculations? Will say a 1/3 scale model behave similar to a full scale in the stability and control realm? How will it differ?
How big does the model have to be to get meaningful results? 1/10th, 1/4, 1/2, etc?
For the best results should the model be scaled perfectly (all dimensions evenly reduced) so that the areas go down by the square (1/3 scale areas go down to 1/9, etc)? How about for weight? Power?
Are there any online (or other) resources that show how to interpret results from scale models and convert them to what would be likely with a much larger aircraft?
Joa
