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My discovery on Variable Swept Wing

1,418 Rifimaka  1.9 years ago

Hear me out
in real life, swept wing need aerodynamic stuff to work
but in Simpleplanes, there is aerodynamic but different on how it work (i guess)

Whatever, what i mean is, use moving swept wing to push the COL backwards so your plane can go faster

by pushing the COL backwards, you limit the plane movement by making it less agile and maneuverable. So, the plane will less move up and down (pitch) while you move the mouse (or keyboard) and it will move FASTER !!1.

or maybe that's just how swept wing works in real life and i just discovered it now.

Kinda clickbait the previous title, gotta control myself more...

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    2,004 Numbers2

    Ok so how aerodynamics work is that when you sweep your wings back you create less drag which in essence makes the plane go faster but when you sweep your wings back you lose lift in away that if you were to fly slow enough with wings swept back you will stall but because you've made your wing area smaller technically you also lose the manovering ability because the wing isn't getting the full air particles because that's the drag so in order to go faster you need to get rid of drag by sweeping the wings back which sacrifices your ability manover really well

    +1 1.9 years ago
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    44.3k rexzion

    arodynamec 100

    +1 1.9 years ago
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    137k BaconEggs

    yes

    +2 1.9 years ago
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    1,418 Rifimaka

    Heh, most of the problem i discovered on my plane are usualy (or tried to be) solved with speed and power anyway.

    But still thanks to everyone commented giving me more view about drag and lift.

    1.9 years ago
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    @Rifimaka no it doesn't, it's not about the center of lift, in fact, the more you're COL will be close to your tail, the more maniability (making your aircraft more unstable) you'll get. And when you retract variable sweep wings, the COL goes closer to the tail, so it should give you more maniability.
    BUT
    When you do this, you change the way your wings create lift, enough to make the airplane actually less agile than before.
    In SP however, it doesn't work, well it work for the "agility" part, but the drag doesn't change so the speed isn't affected, but IRL it is how it works.
    The only thing that makes the plane go fatser (IRL, since it's not replicated in SP) is the reduced drag due to the wing being sweept back. Indeed you can test it in-game, your top speed won't changen but your agility will.
    And keep in mind that there's no "the less or the more you turn", since IRL pilots doesn't use a kyeboard (so full inputs), they can decide how hard they turn, you can keep a high speed even with un-retracted wings, just pull too hard on the pitch. And it's not really about how hard you turn, but how much AoA you reach.
    But top speed doesn't have anything to do with turning speed, so it isn't even a thing to talk about I guess.

    +3 1.9 years ago
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    4,381 Stanmich

    Pushing the COL back makes it easier to enter dives, and loses some pitch authority for the aircraft, causing lesser AoA capability. While COL doesn't, indeed, affect speed directly, it does indirectly.

    +1 1.9 years ago
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    94.1k ReinMcDeer

    @Rifimaka and you're exactly right
    Swept wings are not great when it comes to low speed performance as well, which is kinda replicated in SP.

    +2 1.9 years ago
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    1,418 Rifimaka

    Yeah, COL dont affect speed but affect how sharp you turn, thats what im trying to say.
    The sharper you turn, the more speed you lose while turning
    The opposite thing happend, the less you turn, the less speed you lose
    It basicly makes you less clumsy with the control.
    Or maybe it also reduce the drag, i never notice the difference on my plane between sweep and no sweep until now

    +2 1.9 years ago
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    COL has nothing to do with speed, in SP and in real life, the things that you have to look at is thrust, mass and drag.
    It also works in SP, the only thing is that sweep wings doesn't change the drag amount when sweept, because the parts have a fixed amount of drag, but changing your COL won't do much to the speed. The point of changing the weep of the wing is just to reduce the drag, less resistance to the air means more potential speed.

    +4 1.9 years ago
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    I don't think COL (Center Of Lift) has anything to do with the speed in SP

    +2 1.9 years ago