Verticaltail

Horizontaltail

This lesson covers selecting the airfoil, wing and tail geometries.

AIRCRAFT

ZEPLN

HELCOPTER

UAV

SPACE SHUTTLE

PARACHUTE

WIND TURBINE

ROCKET

RACE

ENGINE

SHIP

SUBMARINE

NavyShipPropulsionTechnologies:
OptionsforReducingOilUse

AirfoilSelection
SLO

The airfoil affects the

1.44W 2

gSL 2Sc L max TSL

1/ 2

2(W / S )
cruise speed
Vstall

takeoff and landing distances

c
SL L
stall speed
handling qualities (especially near the stall)
overall aerodynamic efficiency during all phases of flight.
max

AirfoilGeometry
t

Angleof
attack

Leading
edge
radius

Thekeygeometricparameters.
Total airfoil camber is defined as the maximum distance of the mean camber line from the
chord line, expressed as percent of the chord.
The airfoil thickness ratio (t/c) refers to the maximum thickness of the airfoil divided by
its chord.

AirfoilLiftandDrag
An airfoil generates lift by changing the velocity of the air passing over and under itself. The
airfoil angle of attack causes the air over the top of the wing to travel faster than the air
beneath the wing.

The integrated differences in pressure

between top and bottom of the airfoil
generate the net lifting force.
Note that the upper surface of the
wing contributes about two-thirds of
the total lift.

Pressure Coefficient
Cp

P P
1

2
V

Lift, Drag, and Moment Coefficients

Lift, drag, and moment on an airfoil:

l lift/unit span
d drag/unit span
m moment/unit span

The forces and moment are functions of:

angle of attack
V freesteam velocity

freestream density

Dimensional analysis can be applied to

reduce the number of free parameters:
Cl
Cd

c airfoil chord length

freestream viscosity
a freestream sonic speed

q freestream dynamic pressure

l
1

V
c

d
1

Cm

where

V
c

f , Re, M
f , Re, M

m
1

2 2

V
2 c

Re

f , Re, M

V c

V
a

Airfoil characteristics are strongly affected by the Reynolds number at which they are
operating.TheReynoldsnumberinfluenceswhethertheflowwillbelaminarorturbulent
andwhetherflowseparationwilloccur.

AtypicalaircraftwingoperatesataReynoldsnumberofabouttenmilllion.

Flow separation from an airfoil at an angle of

attack , due to a large adverse pressure gradient,
results in lift decrease and drag increase.

Clvs.Cdshowsbestlocationswheretofly
Dragbucket:lowdragregion

AirfoilFamilies
The early airfoils were developed mostly by trial and error.
In the 1930s, the NACA developed a widely
usedfamilyofmathematicallydefinedairfoils
called the four digit airfoils. While rarely
used for wing design today, the uncambered
fourdigitairfoilsarestillcommonlyusedfor
tailsurfacesofsubsonicaircraft.

The NACA fivedigit airfoils were developed

to allow shifting the position of maximum
camberforwardforgreatermaximumlift.

The sixseries airfoils were designed for

increased laminar flow, and hence
reduceddrag.

Sixseries airfoils such as the 64A series are

still widely used as a starting point for
highspeedwingdesign.(example:F15)
Thesetwoshapesarelowdragsectionsdesignedtohave
laminar flow over 60 to 70 percent of chord on both the
upperandthelowersurface.

AirfoilDesign
In the past, the designer would select an airfoil from such a catalog by considering:
airfoil drag during cruise
stall and pitching-moment characteristics,
the thickness available for structure,
fuel
the ease of manufacture.
With todays computational airfoil design capabilities, it is becoming common for the airfoil
shapes for a wing to be custom-designed.
Methods have been developed for designing an airfoil such that :
the pressure diferantial between the
top and bottom of the airfoil quickly
reaches a maximum value attainable
without flow separation.
toward the rear of the airfoil, various
pressure recovery schemes are
employed to prevent separation near the
trailing edge.

Airfoils with substantial pressure

diferentials over a much percent of chord
thanaclassicalairfoil.

This permits a reduced wing area for a

requiredamountoflift.

Round leading edge - increases pressure quickly:

Gradual tapering to a sharp trailing edge reduces likelihood of separation under
adverse pressure grad.
Camber - this curvature determines how much lift is generated at zero angle of attack
Most airfoils are designed using numerical codes based around potential flow theory with
boundary layer corrections, but one can also use wind tunnel data or inverse design
methods:

Most airfoils are designed

for a specific design point,
such as:
max lift,
max thickness,
transonic flight,
laminar b.l.,
low Re, or
low pitching moment

If the airplane is flying at just under the speed of sound, the faster air traveling over the
upper surface will reach supersonic speeds causing a shock to exist on the upper surface.
The speed at which supersonic flow first appears on the airfoil is called the critical Mach
number Mcrit.

LITTLE
CAMBER

HIGHLY
CAMBERED

A supercritical airfoil is one designed to

increase the critical Mach number.

DesignLiftCoefficient
The first consideration in initial airfoil selection is the design lift coefficient.
This is the lift coefficient at which the airfoil has the best (L/D).

cLmd
cDmd

tan max

cLmd
cDmd

L

D max

In subsonic flight a well-designed airfoil operating at

its design lift coefficient has a drag coefficient that is
little more than skin-friction drag.
The aircraft should be designed so that it flies the
design mission at or near the design lift coefficient to
maximize the aerodynamic efficiency.

1 W
W L qScL qScl cl
q S
Wing lift
coefficient

q f (V , h) cl

Airfoil lift
coefficient

(First approximation)

Wing loading

can be calculated for the velocity and altitude of the design mission.

During the mission fuel is burned:

to flight with the design lift coefficient

q h
cruise climb flight
maximum range

In actual practice, a design lift coefficient usually will be based upon past experience, and
for most types of aircraft typically will be around 0.5.
In fact, the initial selection of the airfoil is often simply based upon prior experience or
copied from some successfull design.

Stall
Stall characteristics play an important role in airfoil selection.
Some airfoils exhibit a gradual reduction in lift during a stall, whereas others show a violent
loss of lift, accompanied by a rapid change in pitching moment. This differerence reflects
the existance of three entirely different types of airfoil stall.

 Fat airfoils (t/c > %14)

Stall from the trailing edge:
; turbulent boundary layer
At 100 boundary layer begins to separate
starting at the trailing edge, ; moving forward
The loss of lift is gradual, the pitching moment
changes only a small amount.
Thinnerairfoils (%6 < t/c < %14)
Stall from the leading edge:
The flow separates near the nose at a very
small angle of attack, but immediately reattaches
itself : little effect is felt.
; the flow fails to reattach: entire stall
An abrupt change in lift and pitching moment.
Verythinairfoils (t/c < %6)
The flow separates from the nose at a small
angle of attack and reattaches immediately.
; bubble continues to stretch toward the
trailing edge. The airfoil reaches its maximum
lift where the bubble completely stretches.
The loss of lift is smooth, but large changes in
pitching moment.

NACA4412versusNACA4421

BothNACA4412andNACA4421have
sameshapeofmeancamberline
Thin airfoil theory predict that linear
liftslopeandL=0shouldbethesame
forboth

Leadingedgestallshowsrapiddropof
liftcurvenearmaximumlift
Trailing edge stall shows gradual
bendingoverofliftcurveatmaximum
lift,softstall
High cl,max for airfoils with leading
edgestall

Flat plate stall exhibits poorest

behavior,earlystalling

Thicknesshasmajoreffectoncl,max

The wing twist angle is introduced to prevent stall from occurring at the wing tip before than
the wing root.
Usually wings are 'washout' twisted, resulting in a decreasing angle of attack starting from
the root and towards the tip.

Precisely,thetwistangleistheanglebetweenthezeroliftlineoftheprofileinthecurrent
sectionandthezeroliftlineoftherootprofile.

Asthetwistangleincreasesalongthespan,theloweristhelocalangleofattackandthe
loweristheliftgenerated.Bythiswepreventthewingtipfromgeneratingasmuchliftas
thewingroot,whichmaycausethestalltooccurattheworstplacewe'dlikeittooccur,
theailerons.
Bywashouttwist,weobtaintomakestalloccuratthewingroot,withoutlostofailerons
control.

The designer may elect to use different airfoils at the

rootandtip:withatipairfoilselectedwhichstallsata
higherangleofattackthantherootairfoil.

This provides good flow over the ailerons for roll

controllatanangleofattackwheretherootisstalled.

Boeing737

Root

MidSpan
Tip

AirfoilThicknessRatio
Airfoil thickness ratio has a direct effect on
drag,
maximum lift,
stall characteristics,
structural weight.

t / c cd
M cr

Supercritical Airfoils

Supercritical airfoils designed to delay and reduce transonic drag rise, due to both strong
normal shock and shock-induced boundary layer separation

Relative to conventional, supercritical airfoil has reduced amount of camber, increased

leading edge radius, small surface curvature on suction side, and a concavity in rear part of
pressure side

SUPERCRITICALAIRFOILS

Optimum Airfoil Thickness

The thickness ratio affects the maximum lift and stall characteristics primarily by its
effectonthenoseshape.
Alargernoseradiusprovidesahigherstallangleandagreatermaximumliftcoefficient
(withhightARandmoderatesweep)(viseverseforlowAR).
NACA632XX,NACA63212;exampleofoptimumselection
NACA63212
cl,max

Thickness Effect on Structural Weight

1
Structural weight
t/c

Halving the thickness ratio: wing weight (%41)

Wing weight is typically about %15 of empty weight
Halving the thickness ratio: empty weight (%6)

A supercritical airfoil would tend to be

about %10 thicker than the historical trend.

Frequently the thickness is varied from root to tip:

Due to fuselage effects, the root airfoil of a subsonic aircraft can be as mush as
20-60% thicker than the tip airfoil without greatly affecting the drag.
This is very benefical, resulting in a structural weight reduction as well as more volume for
fuel and landing gear.
This thicker root airfoil should extend to no more than about 30% of the span.

OtherAirfoilConsiderations
Another important aspect of airfoil selection is the intended Reynolds number.
Each airfoil is designed for a certain Reynolds number.
Use of an airfoil at a greately different Reynolds number (1/2 order) can produce section
characteristics much different from those expected.
This is important for the laminar-flow airfoils and is most crucial when an airfoil is operated
at a lower-than-design Reynolds number.
The laminar airfoils require extremely smooth skins.
An aircraft designer should not spend too much time trying to pick exactly the right
airfoil in early conceptual design.
Later trade studies and analytical design tools will determine the desired airfoil
characteristics and geometry.
For early conceptual layout, the selected airfoil is important mostly determining
the thickness available for structure, landing gear, and fuel.
For swept-wing supersonic aircraft, the NACA 64A and 65A sections are good airfoils for
initial design.

WingGeometry
Importantconsiderations/constraints:

Performance(cruise,loiter,takeoff,landing)
Flyingqualities(handlingandstability)
Structuralconsiderations(sparplacement)
Internalvolume(forfuel/payload)
Stealthcharacteristics(formilitarysubsonic)
Airportlimitations(wingspan)

WingPlanform

The reference wing is the basic wing geometry used to begin the layout.

S, reference wing area

c, chord
b, span
A, aspect ratio (b2/S)
t/c, thickness ratio
, sweep
, taper ratio (ctip / croot)
Twist (aerodynamic and geometric)
Dihedral

Graphical method for finding

the mean aerodynamic chord.

Jenkinson

Planformarea:
Itistheareaofwingplanformobtainedbyextendingtheexposedwinguptothefuselage
centreline.
Reference(orEquivalent)wing:
It is a trapezoidal wing whose root chord is at the fuselage centre line and has the area
sameastheplanformarea.

The root airfoil is the airfoil of

thetrapezoidalreferencewingat
thecenterlineoftheaircraft,not
where the actual wing connects
tothefuselage.

Thereferencewingareaisfictitious:

wingareaincludesthepartofthereferencewingthatsticksintothefuselage.

3DEffect

C L

AR
C l
2
2
(C l / ) (C l / ) AR

ComparisonofaNACA65210airfoilliftcurvewiththatofawing
usingthesameairfoil(McCormick).

There are two key sweep angles:

the leading edge sweep is the angle of concern in supersonic flight: to reduce drag it is
common to sweep the leading edge behind the Mach cone.
the sweep of the quarter-chord line is the sweep most related to subsonic flight.
It is important to avoid confusing these two sweep angles.
Airfoil pitching moment is generally provided about a point, where the pitching moment is
essentially constant with changing angle of attack:
In subsonic flow, this is at the quarter-chord point on the mean aerodynamic chord.
In supersonic flow, the aerodynamic center moves back to about 40% of the mean
aerodynamic chord. Also, the mean aerodynamic center will be important for stability.
The required reference wing
area S can be determined
only after the takeoff gross
weight is determined.
The shape of the reference
wing is determined by its
aspect ratio, taper ratio, and
sweep.

W/S,A,
knownparameters

S W /(W / S )
b AS
c root 2 S /[ b (1 )]
ctip c root
tan LE tan c / 4 [(1 ) / A (1 )]

AspectRatio

b
A
c

for rectangular wings.

Aspectratioaffects

theslopeoftheliftcurveofwing(cL),
induceddrag(cDi),
structuralweightofthewing
thewingspan.

When a wing is generating lift, it has a reduced

pressure on the upper surface and an increased
pressureonthelowersurface.

Nearthetipofthewing,thehighpressureairwillslip
aroundtoreachthetopofthewing.Thiscirculation
ofairaroundthetipcreatesavortexandalsopushes
downonthetopofthewing,spoilingliftandcreating
drag.

A high aspect ratio planform shape has wingtips

spaced further apart. Therefore, the formation of
vorticeswillhavelessofaneffectbecauselessofthe
wingwillbeexposedtothevortices.

b2
A
S

for delta wings.

TrailingVorticesProducingDownwash

Effectofaspectratioonslopeoftheliftcurve
Theslopeofliftcurveofanellipticwinginalow
subsonicflowisgivenas:

cL

A
cl
A 2

Forothertypesofwing,theCLwouldingeneral
beslightlylowerthanthatforellipticwing.

However equation shows that CL decreases as

aspectratiodecreases.
Effectofaspectratiooninduceddrag:

Theinduceddragcoefficientofasubsonicairplaneisgivenby:

c Di

c L2

(1 )
A

wheredependsonwinggeometryi.e.Aspectratio,taperratioandsweep.
A wing with a high aspect ratio will generate more lift and less induced drag than a
wingwithalowaspectratio.

Effectofaspectratioonstructuralweight:
0.4
Wwing CSW0.649 A0.5 (t / c) root
(1 ) 0.1 (cos( )) 1

Equationshowsthatthewingweightincreasesassquarerootoftheaspectratio.

Thereasonforthisisthatthespanincreasesastheaspectratioincreases(A=b2/S).

Anincreaseinthespanwouldincreasethebendingmomentatthewingroot.

Thiswouldrequirehighermomentofinertiaofthesparandhencehigherweight.
Effectofaspectratioonspan:
Forachosenwingarea,theaspectratiodeterminesthespanofthewing.Inturnthe
spandeterminesthehangerspaceneededfortheairplane.

Forpersonalairplanes,amoderateaspectratioof6to7isgenerallychosen.

Agriculturalandotherairplanes,whichflyinproximityofground,aresubjectedtoair
turbulenceandhavemoderateaspectratioof6to7.

Aspectratioalsohasadirectimpactonstallangle(andoverallliftcoefficientofthewing):

ForagivenRe,thewingwithhigherA(withlongwingspanandsmallchord)reacheshigher
lift coefficient, but stalls at a lower angle of attack than the wing with low A. This is one
reasonwhytailstendtobeofloweraspectratio.Conversely,acanardcanbemadetostall
beforethewingbymakingitaveryhighaspectratiosurface.Thispreventsthepilotfrom
stallingthewing.

However,foragivenwingarea,increasingtheaspectratiomayresultinatoosmallwing
chordwithatoolowReynoldsnumber,whichmaysignificantlyreducetheliftcoefficient.

In this design stage, the aspect ratio will be determined by a trade study in which the
aerodynamic advantages of a higher aspect ratio are balanced against the increased
weight.

Forinitialwinglayout,thevaluesandequationsprovidedinthetablecanbeused.

PropellerAircraft
Flyingboat

Equivalent
AspectRatio
8.0

JetAircraft

Jettransport

7.500

5.570

1.075

Twinturboprop

9.2

Militarycargo/bomber

Agriculturalaircraft

7.5

Jetfighter(other)

4.110

0.622

Generalaviationtwinengine

7.8

Jetfighter(dogfighter)

5.416

0.622

Generalaviationsingleengine

7.6

Jettrainer

4.737

0.979

Homebuilt

6.0

A aM

c
max

Mmax=Maximumflight
Machnumber

b2
ForSailplane: A
S
0.69
A 4.464( L / D) best

JetaircraftshowastrongtrendofaspectratiodecreasingwithincreasingMachnumber.

Thisisprobablyduetodragdueliftbecomingrelativelylessimportantathigherspeeds.

Designersofhighspeedaircraftthususeloweraspectratiowingstosaveweight.

WingSweep

Airfoilhassamethicknessbutlongereffectivechord,
Effectiveairfoilsectionisthinner,
MakingairfoilthinnerincreasescriticalMachnumber.

Thewingsweepaffects

slopeoftheliftcurve(cL),
induceddragcoefficient(cDi),
criticalMachnumber(Mcr),
wingweight
tipstalling.

Effectofsweeponslopeofliftcurve:

1 M ,
2

cL

cl
2 /

maxt=sweepofthelineofmaximumthickness,
Clistheslopeofliftcurveoftheairfoilusedon
wingatchosenflightMachnumber.

Intheabsenceofthisinformation,canbe
takenas1.

2A
2

tan
max t
A
2 4 2 1

2
2

CLdecreasesassweepincreases
A=8,M=0.8

CLdecreasebyabout25%when
sweepincreasesfrom00to350.

Effectofsweeponinduceddrag
Basedonexperimentaldataonsweptwing,induceddragofasweptwingisinversely
proportionaltocosineof(50).

1
cDi
, 75
0
cos( 5 )

AtM~0.6,severely
reducedL/D

Benefitofthisdesignisat
M>1,tosweepwings
insideMachcone.

WingsweepbeneficialinthatitincreasesdragdivergencesMachnumber
Increasingwingsweepreducestheliftcoefficient

EffectofsweeponcriticalMachnumber(Mcr)ordragdivergenceMachnumber(MDD):
The critical Mach number in connection with the airfoil was defined as the free stream
MachnumberatwhichthemaximumMachnumberontheairfoilisunity.

Thisquantitycanbeobtainedtheoreticallybycalculatingthepressuredistributiononthe
airfoil,butcannotbedeterminedexperimentally.

However when the critical Mach number is exceeded, the drag coefficient starts to
increase.

MakinguseofthisbehaviorwedefinethetermDragdivergenceMachnumber(MDD)as
the Mach number at which the drag coefficient shows an increase of 0.002 over the
subsonicdragvalue.

Some authors define MDD as the

Mach number at which the slope of
the Cd vs.M curve has avalue of 0.1
i.e.(dCd/dM)=0.1.

For a swept wing the change in drag

divergence Mach number due to
sweep angle , is given by the
followingequation:

1 ( M DD )

1
1 ( M DD ) 0
90
DragdivergenceMachnumber
ofaSupercriticalairfoil

(MDD)=0 and (MDD) are the drag

divergence Mach numbers of the
unsweptandthesweptwings.
isquarterchordsweepindegrees.

Remark:

As regards the effect of sweep on critical Mach number is concerned a sweep back or
sweepforwardhasthesameeffect.Howeverfromstructuralpointofviewasweptforward
winghaslowerflutterspeedandisseldomuse.

Effectofsweeponwingweight
0.4
Wwing CSW0.649 A0.5 (t / c) root
(1 ) 0.1 (cos( )) 1

Theweightofthewingisproportionalto(1/cos).

Thustheweightofthewingincreasesassweepincreases.
Remarks:

i)Thefinalchoiceofsweepwillbe
doneaftertradeoffstudies.

Followingcanbegivenas
guidelines.

Low subsonic airplanes have

unsweptwings.

For high speed airplanes, the

angle of sweep can be chosen
basedonFigure:

Guidelinesforselectionofwingsweep

ii) Wing with cranked trailing edge: Instead of

havingatrapezoidalwingplanform,thewingsof
highsubsonicairplaneshaveanunswepttrailing
edge up to about 30% of semispan in the
inboard region. These wings have the following
favorableeffects.

a)Higherthicknessattherootand
b) Spanwise center of pressure is brought slightly inboard which reduces the bending
momentattherootascomparedtothetrapezoidalwing.Thesetwoeffectstendtoreduce
the weight of wing structure. The thicker inboard section also provides room for
accommodatingthebackupstructureforthelandinggear.

Remarks:
sweepimproveslateralstability

dihedraleffect(rollduetosideslip)isproportionaltosin(2LE)

variablesweepcanbeusedascompromise

obviouspenaltyinweightandcomplexity

WhySweeptheWing?

Transonic(significant,3035)
Subsonic(usuallysmall)
DelaydragriseMach
Adjustwingaerocenterrelativetocg
Onflyingwing,getmomentarmlengthforcontrol

Wingsweepincreases
Supersonic(large,4570)
wingweightforfixedspan
Wingconceptchanges,

mustdistributeloadlongitudinallyaswellaslaterally
reducecrosssectionalareaandareavariation
WhyVariableSweep?
Sweptback:lowsupersonicdrag,good

onthedeckridequality

Unsweptposition:lowlandingspeed,

efficientloiter

Optimumsweepbackavailableovertransonic

speedrange

But:addsweight/complexity,currently

unfashionable

F14Tomcat

WhySweeptheWingForward?

Fortransonicmaneuver,strongshockisclosetotrailingedge,highlysweptTE
(shock)reducesdrag.

forwardsweptwingallowshighlysweptTE

equivalentstructuralARlessthanaftsweptwing

Synergisticwithcanard

Goodhighangleofattack(rootstall,aileronskeepworking)

But:

mustbebalancedatleast30%unstable
notstealthy
poorsupersonicvolumetricwavedrag

X29

TaperRatio()
Thetaperraioinfluences

Induceddrag
Structuralweight
Easeoffabrication
Effectoftaperratiooninduceddrag:

cL2
cD
(1 )
A

Itisknownthatanellipticwinghasthelowestinduceddrag(=0.0).
Howeverthisplanformshapeisdifficulttofabricate.

A rectangular wing is easy to fabricate but has about 7% higher CDias compared to the
ellipticwing(=0.07).Itisalsoheavierstructurally.

Anunsweptwing,withbetween0.3to0.5,hasaslightlypositivevalueof.

Furtherinataperedwing,thespanloadingisconcentratedintheinboard
portionsofthewingandtheairfoilattherootisthickerthannearthetip.

Thesefactorshelpinreducingthewingweight.

Tipstallingisalsonotaproblemwhenthetaperratioisbetween0.3and0.5.

Fromtheseconsiderations,

ataperratiobetween0.3and0.5iscommonforlowspeedairplanes.

Forsweptwings,ataperratioof0.2iscommonlyused.

Thiswouldnecessitatemeasuresforavoidingtipstalling.
Guidelinesfortaperratioofsweptwings

untaperedwingislessefficient

sweepcausesextraliftnearwingtip

effectisreducedbyadditionaltaper

Raymer,D.P.,AircraftDesign,2006

Effectoftaperonliftdistribution

Twist
Itisgiventopreventtipstalling.

Tipstalling:
Geometrictwist

Itisaphenomenoninwhichthestallingonthewingbeginsintheregionnearthewingtips.
Thisisbecausethedistributionoflocalliftcoefficient(Cl)isnotuniformalongthespanand
as the angle of attack of the wing increases, the stalling will begin at a location where the
localliftcoefficientexceedsthevalueofmaximumliftcoefficient(Clmax)there.

To appreciate this phenomenon let us consider an unswept tapered wing. The lift
distribution on such a wing has a maximum at the root and goes to zero at the tip. This
distributionisalsoknownasdistribution.

1
1
2
L V cl S V2 cl cy
2
2
Aerodynamictwist
Clisthelocalliftcoefficientoveranelement(y)ofspan.

ThusdistributionisproportionaltotheproductcCl.

Thelocalliftcoefficient(Cl)isproportional
to/candisnotuniformalongthespan.

The distribution along the span can be

approximately obtained by Schrenks
method. According to this method, cCl
distribution is roughly midway between
chord distribution of the actual wing and
thatofanellipticwingofthesamearea.

SchrenksMethod

Fromthesedistributions,thevariationofCl
alongthespancanbecalculated.

Itcanbeshownthatforawingwithtaper
ratio,thelocalmaximumofClwilloccurat
aspanwiselocationwhere

y / b / 2 (1 )
TypicalDistributionofCl

It is known that the maximum lift coefficient (Clmax) of an airfoil depends on the airfoil
shape,surfaceroughnessandReynoldsnumber.

Forsimplicity,wecanassumethatClmaxisapproximatelyconstantalongthespan.

Then from the distribution of Cl, we

observethatastheangleofattackofthe
wing increases, the stalling will begin at
the spanwise location where local Cl
equalslocalClmax.

Subsequently,stallingwillprogressalongthewingspanandfinallythewingwillstall(i.e.CL
of wing will reach a maximum and then decrease). The beginning of stall near the tip is
undesirable as ailerons are located in tip region. Stalling there would reduce aileron
effectiveness.For a wing of a taper ratio 0.3, the stall is likely to begin around y/(b/2) of
0.7.

Remarks:

Inthecaseofsweptwings,thereisacrossflowalongthespanandthetendencyforthetip
stallisenhanced.

Tipstallingcanbepreventedifthesectionsinthetipregionhaveanglesofattacklowerthan
thoseattheroot.Inthiscase,thewingacquiresatwist.Thedifferencebetweentheangleof
attackoftheairfoilattherootandthatnearthetipiscalledtwistanddenotedby.Twistis
negativewhenairfoilnearthetipisatanangleofattacklowerthanthatattheroot.Thisis
alsocalledwashout.SometimesairfoilswithhigherClmaxareusednearthetip.Thusairfoils
attherootandnearthetipmayhaveadifferentvaluesofangleofzerolift(0l).Thisleadsto
twodifferentkindsoftwistsgeometrictwistandaerodynamictwist.

Geometrictwististheanglebetweenthechordsoftheairfoilsattherootandnearthetip.
Aerodynamictwististheanglebetweenthezeroliftlinesattherootandthatnearthetip.
Tocompletelyeliminatetheoccurrenceoftipstalling,mayrequirecomplexvariationofthe
angleoftwist.Howeverforeaseoffabrication,lineartwistisgivenin
whichtheangleoftwistvarieslinearlyalongthespan.
i)ActualvalueoftwistcanbeobtainedbycalculatingCldistributiononuntwistedwingand
then varying the twist such that tipstalling is avoided. A value of 30 can be used as an
initialestimate.

ii)Earlysweptwingairplaneshadthefollowing
featurestoavoidtipstalling.

(a) Vortexgenerators,
(b) Fencesontopsurface.

WingIncidence
The mean aerodynamic chord is the
reference line on the wing. Fuselage
reference line (FRL) is the reference
linefortheentireairplane.

The angle between fuselage

reference line and the wing
reference line is called wing
incidenceanddenotedbyiw.

Thewingincidenceisgivenforthefollowingreason.

Fortheeconomyinfuelconsumption,thedragshouldbeminimumduringthecruise.The
fuselagehasaminimumdragwhenitsangleofattackiszero.

However,duringcruise,thewingshouldproducesufficientlifttosupporttheweightofthe
airplane. Keeping these factors in view, the wing is mounted on the fuselage in such a
mannerthatitproducesrequiredamountofliftincruisewhilethefuselageisatzeroangle
ofattack.

Duringthepreliminarydesignphase,iwcanbeobtainedasfollows.

a) ObtainCLdesigncorrespondingtocruiseoranyotherdesignconditioni.e.

W
cL design

whereandVcorrespondtothe
1

V 2 S designflightconditions

2
b) ObtainCLforthewing.
c) Obtain zero lift angle (0L ) for wing. This depends on 0l of the airfoil used on the
wingandthewingtwist.
d) Calculateiwfromthefollowingequation:

cL design cL (iw 0L )

Remark:

Thefinalchoiceofiwmaybearrivedatfromwindtunneltestsontheairplanemodel.

Forpreliminarydesignpurposes
Airplanetype
Wingincedenceangle
Suggestedwing
incidenceangle

Generalaviation/homebuilt

20

Transport

10

Military

00

Dihedral()
Dihedralangleistheanglethatthewingsform
withrespecttothehorizonwhenviewedfrom
thefront.

Itsvalueisdecidedafterthelateraldynamicstabilitycalculationshavebeencarriedoutfor
theairplane.
Forpreliminarydesignpurposes.
Suggesteddihedralangle
[0]
WingLocation

Airplanetype
Low

Mid

High

Unswept(civil)

5to7

2to4

0to2

Subsonicswept

3to7

2to2

5to2

Supersonicswept

0to5

5to0

5to0

Dihedralhelpstomaintainaircraftrollstability:

A positive dihedral, wingtips angled up, tends to bring an aircraft back to level when it is
banked.Thecounterrollingmomentiscausedbyasideslipthatresultsfromthebankingof
theaircraft.

Thecraftwilltendtoslidetowardtheloweredwing,whichwillincreasethatwingsangle
ofattack,therebyincreasingitslift.Sincethereisanunbalancedlift,theaircraftwilltendto
berighted.

Dihedralmustbecarefullycalculated,becauseanexcessofdihedralcomeswithapenalty.

Excessive dihedral can lead to an oscillatory disturbance in motion known as a Dutch roll.
Dutchrollisarepeatedsidetosideoscillationthatisaresultofbothyawingandrolling.Such
aphenomenoncanbedisastrousforacraft,butcanbecounteredbyincreasingverticaltail
area.

This,inturn,willresultinanincreaseinboththeweightanddragoftheaircraft.

Therefore,tailsizeanddihedralmustbeconsideredtogethertoachievetheoptimaldesign
forstability,weight,anddragconcerns.

WingVerticalLocation
Therearethreechoicesforthelocationofthewingonthefuselagenamely

highwing,
midwing,
lowwing.

LowWingconfiguration

Advantages:
i.Landinggearcanbelocatedinthewingtherebyavoidingpodsonthefuselageandhence
lower drag. However to provide adequate ground clearance, the fuselage has to be at a
higherlevelascomparedtothehighwingconfiguration.
ii.Wingstructurecanbethroughthefuselage.

Disadvantages:
i.Lowgroundclearance.
ii. A lowwing configuration has unstable contribution to the directional stability. Hence a
largerverticaltailareaisneeded.

MidWingconfiguration

Advantages:
i.Lowerdrag.
ii.Advantagesofgroundclearanceasinthehighwingconfiguration.
iii.Noblockageofvisibility.Henceusedonsomemilitaryairplanes.

Disadvantages:
i.Wingrootstructurepassingthroughthefuselageisnotpossible,whichleadstohigher
weight.HoweverinHFBHansaairplane,asweptforwardmidwingislocatedbehindthe
passengercabinandhascarrythroughstructure.

Lowwing

Midwing

Highwing

Parasolwing

HighWingconfiguration:

Advantages:
i) Allows placing fuselage closer to ground, thus allowing loading and unloading without
specialgroundhandlingequipment.(goodforcargohandling)
ii)Jetengines&propellerhavesufficientgroundclearancewithoutexcessivelandinggear
lengthleadingtolowerlandinggearweight.
iii)Forlowspeedairplanes,weightsavingcanbeeffectedbystrutbracedwing.
iv) For short take off and landing (STOL) airplanes with high wing configuration have
followingspecificadvantages.(a)Largewingflapscanbeused(b)Enginesareawayfrom
the ground and hence ingestion of debris rising from unprepared runways is avoided (c)
Preventsfloatingofwingduetogroundeffectwhichmayoccurforlowwingconfiguration.
Disadvantages:
i)Fuselagegenerallyhousesthelandinggearinspecialpodsleadingtohigherweightand
drag.
ii)Pilotsvisibilitymaybeblockedinaturn.

WingTips
Wingtipshapeaffects

theaircraftwettedarea,butonlytoasmallextent.
thetipvortices.

A smoothlyrounded tip easily permits the air to flow around

the tip. A tip with sharp edge makes it more difficult, thus
reducingtheinduceddrag.

Most of the new lowdrag wing tips use some form of sharp
edge.

Thesweepof thewingtipalsoaffectsthe drag.The tip vortex

tends to be located at the trailing edge: an aftswept wig tip,
withagreatertrailingedgespan,tendstohavelowerdrag.
Wingtipvorticesbehinda
conventionalwingtipand
blendedwinglet

 A sharp edge (looking from front) prevents leakage around tips

lower induced drag
Hoerner tip has lower surface cutting upward
F-15 has forward swept tips on all surfaces
keeps trailing edge out of tip vortex

 Winglets
wetted area increase vs reduced drag
structural weight added at tip

BiplaneWings
Each wing contributes one-half of the required lift
induced drag reduced by factor of 2!
but parasite drag (c D0) will go up
wing interference reduces benefit
wing #1 wing #2

assumewings
shareliftequally
induceddrag
reducedby1/2!

Biplanesarestillworthconsideringif:

spanislimitedbutwingareaisneededforlowspeedflight
highrollratesareneeded(aerobatics)

Meanaerodynamicchordfortheairplaneisdefinedbytheweighted
averageoftheaerodynamicchordsforeachwing

weightssetbyareaofeachwing

TailGeometryandArrangement
TailFunctions
Tails are little wings. Much of the previous discussion concerning wings can also be
appliedtotailsurface.

The major difference between a wing and a tail is that, while the wing is designed to
routinelycarryasubstantialamountoflift,atailisdesignedtooperatenormallyatonlya
fraction of its lift potential. Any time in flight that a tail comes close to its maximum lift
potential,andhenceitsstallangle,somethingisverywrong.

Tailsprovidefortrim,stability,andcontrol.Trimreferstothegenerationofaliftforcethat,
by acting through some other moment arm about the center of gravity, balances some
othermoementproducedbytheaircraft.

Forthehorizontaltail,trimprimarilyreferstothebalancingofthemomentcreatedbythe
wing. An aft horizontal tail typically has a negative incidence angle of about 20 30 to
balancethewingpitchingmoment.
Forverticaltail,mostaircraftareleftrightsymmetric,and
so unbalanced aerodynamic yawing moments requiring
trimarenotcreatedduringnormalflight.

Themajorfunctionofthetailiscontroloftheaircraft.

Propeller aircraft experience a yawing moment called peffect, which has several thrust
relatedcauses.Whenthediskofthepropellerisatanangle,suchasduringclimb,theblade
goingdownwardhasahigherangleofattackandisalsoataslightlyhigherforwardvelocity.
This condition produces higher thrust on the downwardmoving side and hence a yawing
moment away from that side. Also, the propeller tends to drag the air into a rotational
corkscrewmotion.Theverticaltailispushedonsidewaysbytherotatingpropwashcausing
a yawing moment, which adds to the peffect. To counter peffect many singleengine
propellerairplaneshavetheverticaltailoffsetseveraldegress.

Theverticaltailsofmultiengineaircraftmustbecapableofprovidingsufficienttriminthe
eventofanenginefailure.Thisproducesyawingbothfromlackofthrustononesideand
the extra drag of the stopped or windmilling engine. Some multiengine aircraft have
counterrotatingpropellerstominimizetheengineoutyawing.

Thetailsarealsoakeyelementofstability,actingmuchlikethefinsonanarrowtorestore
the aircraft from an upset in pitch or yaw. The vertical stabilizer acts like the tail of a
weathercock.

Theactionofthehorizontalstabilizerismuchmorecomplex,andinvolvesadelicatebalance
ofthepitchingmomentduetothelocationofthewingcenterofliftrelativetothecenterof
gravity,theinherentpitchingmomentofthewing,thepitchingmomentgeneratedbythe
horizontalstabilizer,andthewaythesemomentschangewithangleofattack.

TailArrangement

For most aircraft designs, the conventional

tailwillusetoprovideadequatestabilityand
controlatthelightestweight.

A Ttail is inherently heavier than a

conventional tail because the vertical tail
must be strengthened to support the
horizontal tail, but the Ttail provides
compensatingadvantagesinmanycases:

Due to endplate effect, the

Ttail allows a smaller vertical
tail.TheTtailliftsthehorizontal
tail clear of the wing wake and
propwash,whichmakesitmore
efficient and hence allows
reducingitssize..

This also reduces buffet on the horizontal tail, which

reducesfatigueforboththestructureandthepilot.

A deep stall is a dangerous type of stall that affects

certain aircraft designs, notably those with a Ttail
configuration.Inthesedesigns,theturbulentwakeof
a stalled main wing "blankets" the horizontal
stabilizer, rendering the elevators ineffective and
preventingtheaircraftfromrecoveringfromthestall.
The boundaries of the acceptable locations for
horizontal tail to avoid this problem is given in the
figure. Low tails are best for stall recovery. A tail
approximatelyinlinewiththewingisacceptablefor
a subsonic aircraft, but may cause problems at
supersonicspeedsduetothewakeofthewing.

In jet transport aircraft, the Ttail allows the use of

engines mounted in pods on the aft fuselage. This
increasesthewingliftanddecreasesthewingdrag.

Afttailpositioning

cruciform

The cruciform tail, a compromise between the conventional and Ttail

arrangements,liftsthehorizontaltailtoavoidproximitytoajetexhaust,orto
expose the lower part of the rudder to undisturbed air during highangle of
attackconditionsandspins.IthaslessofaweightpenaltyaccordingtoTtail.
However,itwillnotprovideatailareareductionduetoendplateeffect.
The Htail is used primarily to position the vertical tails in undisturbed air
during high angleofattack conditions or to position the rudders in the
propwash on a multiengine aircraft to enhance engineout control. Htail is
heavier than the conventional tail, but its endplate effect allows a smaller
horizontaltail.

tripletail

The Htail serves to hide the hot engine nozzle from heatseeking missiles
whenviewedfromanangleofftherearoftheaircraft.

Htails and and the related Tripletails have also been used to lower the tail
heighttoallowanaircrafttofitintoexistinghangars.
Twin tails on the fuselage can position the rudders away from the aircraft
centerline, which may become blanketed by the wing or forward fuselage at
high angles of attack. Also, twin tails have been used simply to reduce the
height required with single tail. Twin tails are usually heavier than an equal
areacenterlinemountedsingletail,butareoftenmoreeffective.Twintailsare
seenonmostlargemodernfighters.

The Vtail is intended to reduce wetted area .The horizontal and vertical tail
forcesaretheresultofhorizontalandveticalprojectionsoftheforceexerted
upon the V surfaces. The tail dihedral angle would be found as the
arctangentoftheratioofrequiredverticalandhorizontalareas.Theresulting
wetted area would be clearly be less. Vtails offer reduced interference drag
but at some penalty in controlactuation complexity, as the rudder and
elevator control inputs must be blended in a mixer to provide the proper
movementoftheVtailruddervators.

When the right rudder pedal of a Vtail aircraft is pressed, the right
ruddervatordeflectsdownward,andtheleftruddervatordeflectsupward.The
combined forces push the tail to the left, so the nose goes to the right as
desired.However,theruddervatorsalsoproducearollingmomenttowardthe
leftinoppositiontothedesireddirectionofturnanactioncalledadverseroll
yawcoupling

The inverted Vtail avoids this problem: Produces a desirable proverseroll

yaw coupling. This tail arrangement can cause difficulties in providing
adequategroundclearance.
TheYtailissimilartotheVtail,exceptthatthedihedralangleisreducedanda
third surface is mounted vertically beneath the V. This third surface contains
the rudder, whereas the V surfaces provide only pitch control. This tail
arrangement avoids the complexity of the ruddervator while reducing
interferencedragwhencomparedtoaconventionaltail.

Boommounted tails have been used to allow pusher propeller or allow

location of a heavy jet engine near the center of gravity. Tailbooms are
typically heavier than a conventional fuselage construction, but can
desirableinsomeapplications.

Boommounted tails can have a midmounted horizontal tail or a high

horizontal. Also, the inverted Vtail arrangement can be used with tail
booms.

Theringtailconceptattemptstoprovidealltailcontributionsviaanairfoil
sectionedringattachedtotheaftfuselage,usuallydoublingasapropeller
shroud.Whileconceptuallyappealing,theringtailhasproveninadequate
inapplication.

TailArrangementforSpinRecovery
Theverticaltailplaysakeyroleinspinrecovery.Anaircraftinaspinis
essentiallyfallingverticallyandrotatingaboutaverticalaxis,withthe
insidewingfullystalled.Theaircraftisalsotypicallyatalargesideslip
angle. To recover from the spin requires that the wing will be
unstalled,sotheangleofattackmustbereduced.However,firstthe
rotation must be stooped and the sideslip angle reduced, or the
aircraft will immediately enter another spin. This requires adequate
ruddercontrolevenatthehighanglesofattackseeninthespin.
The effect of tail
arrangement
upon
rudder control at high
angles of attack: At high
angle of attack the
horizontal tail is stalled,
producing a turbulent
wake extending upward
atapproximately450.

Unblankated
portion

Therudderliesentirely The effect of moving

within thewakeofthe the horizontal tail
horizontaltail.
forward with respect
totheverticaltail.

Moving the horizontal The Ttail arrangement

completely uncovers
tailupward.
the rudder, but can
result in pitchup and
lossofelevatorcontrol.

Moving of the
horizontal tail aft
with respect to
theverticaltail.
The use of dorsal fin improves tail
effectivenessathighanglesofsideslip
by creating a vortex that attaches to
theverticaltail.Thistendstoprevent
the high angles of sideslip seen in
spins,andaugmentsruddercontrolin
thespin.Theventraltailalsotendsto
prevent high sideslip, and has the
extra advantage of being where it
cannot be blankated by the wing
wake. Ventral tails are also used to
avoid lateral instability in highspeed
flight.

TailGeometry
Thesurfaceareasrequiredforalltypesoftailsaredirectlyproportionaltotheaircraftswing
area, so the tail areas can not be selected until the initial estimate of aircraft takeoff gross
weight has been made. The initial estimation of tail area is made using the tail volume
coefficientmethod.

Othergeometricparametersforthetailscanbeselected:

Tailaspectratioandtaperratioshowlittlevariationoverawiderangeofaircrafttypes.
Tailaspectratioandtaperratio.(Raymer)
Horizontaltail
A

Verticaltail
A

Fighter

34

Sailplane

610 0.30.5 1.52.0 0.40.6

Others

35

Ttail

0.20.4 0.61.4 0.20.4

0.30.6 1.32.0 0.30.6

0.71.2 0.61.0

Ttail aircraft have lower vertical

tail aspect ratios to reduce the
weight impact of the horizontal
tails location on top of the
verticaltail.

Somegeneralaviationaircraftuse
untaperedhorizontaltails(=1.0)
toreducemanufacturingcosts.

Leadingedgesweepofthehorizontaltailisusuallysettoabout50morethanthewingsweep.
Thistendstomakethetailstallafterthewing,andalsoprovidesthetailwithahigherMcrthan
thewing,whichavoidslossofelevatoreffectivenessduetoshockformation.

Forlowspeedaircraft,thehorizontaltailsweepisfrequentlysettoprovideastraighthinge
line for the elevator, which usually has the left and right sides connected to reduce flutter
tendencies.

Verticaltailsweepvariesbetween350and550.Foralowspeedaircraft,thereislittlereason
for verticaltail sweep beyond about 200 other than asthetics. For a highspeed aircraft,
verticaltailsweepisusedprimarilytoensurethatthetailsMcrishigherthanthewings.

Theexactplanformofthetailsurfacesisactuallynotverycriticalintheearlystagesofthe
design process. The tail geometries are revised during later analytical and windtunnel
studies.Forconceptualdesign,itisusuallyacceptablesimplytodrawtailsurfacesthtlook
right,baseduponpriorexperienceandsimilardesigns.

Tail thickness ratio is usually similar to the wing thickness ratio, as determined by the
historical guidelines provided in the winggeometry section. For a highspeed aircraft, the
horizontal tail is frequently about 10% thinner than the wing to ensure that the tail has a
higherMcr.

Airbus380

Airbus300

Krgerflaps
SpoilersAirbrakes

Threeslotted
innerflaps
HighSpeedAileron
Flaptrack
fairing
Spoilers
Threeslotted
outerflaps
LowSpeed
Aileron
Slats
Wingtip

Threeslottedinnerflaps
Flaptrackfairing
SpoilersAirbrakes
HighSpeedAileron
Threeslottedouterflaps
Spoilers

LowSpeedAileron

Krgerflaps

Slats

Wingtip


Plainflap:therearportionofairfoilrotatesdownwardsonasimplehingemountedat
thefrontoftheflap.[2]Usedinthisformasearlyas1917(duringWorldWarI)onthe
widelyproducedBreguet14andpossiblyearlieronexperimentaltypes.[3]Duetothe
greaterefficiencyofotherflaptypes,theplainflapisnormallyonlyusedwhere
simplicityisrequired.Amodernvariationontheplainflapexploitstheabilityof
compositestobedesignedtoberigidinonedirection,whileflexibleinanother.When
suchamaterialformstheskinofthewing,itscambercanbealteredbythegeometryof
theinternalsupportingstructure,allowingsuchasurfacetobeusedeitherasaflapor
asanaileron.Whilemostcurrentlyuseacomplexsystemofmotorsandactuators,the
simplestsuchinstallationusesribsthatresemblebentcarrotswhenthebendisnearly
horizontal,thereisnodeflection,butwhenthecarrotisrotatedsothebendis
downward,thecamberoftheairfoilischangedinthesamemannerasonaplain
flap.[citationneeded]

Splitflap:therearportionofthelowersurfaceoftheairfoilhingesdownwardsfromtheleadingedgeoftheflap,
whiletheuppersurfacestaysimmobile.[4]Liketheplainflap,thiscancauselargechangesinlongitudinaltrim,
pitchingthenoseeitherdownorup,andtendstoproducemoredragthanlift.Atfulldeflection,asplitflapsacts
muchlikeaspoiler,producinglotsofdragandlittleornolift.ItwasinventedbyOrvilleWrightandJamesM.H.
Jacobsin1920butonlybecamecommoninthe1930sandwasthenquicklysuperseded.TheDouglasDC3&C47
usedasplitflap.

Slottedflap:agapbetweentheflapandthewingforceshighpressureairfrombelowthewingovertheflap
helpingtheairflowremainattachedtotheflap,increasingliftcomparedtoasplitflap.[5]Additionally,liftacross
theentirechordoftheprimaryairfoilisgreatlyincreasedasthevelocityofairleavingitstrailingedgeisraised,
fromthetypicalnonflap80%offreestream,tothatofthehigherspeed,lowerpressureairflowingaroundthe
leadingedgeoftheslottedflap.[6]Anyflapthatallowsairtopassbetweenthewingandtheflapisconsidereda
slottedflap.TheslottedflapwasaresultofresearchatHandleyPage,avariantoftheslotanddatesfromthe
1920sbutwasn'twidelyuseduntilmuchlater.Someflapsusemultipleslotstofurtherboosttheeffect.

Fowlerflap:splitflapthatslidesbackwardflat,beforehingingdownward,therebyincreasingfirstchord,then
camber.[7]Theflapmayformpartoftheuppersurfaceofthewing,likeaplainflap,oritmaynot,likeasplitflap
butitmustsliderearwardbeforelowering.Itmayprovidesomesloteffectbutthisisnotadefiningfeatureofthe
type.[8]InventedbyHarlanD.Fowlerin1924,andtestedbyFredWeickatNACAin1932.Theywerefirstusedon
theMartin146prototypein1935,andinproductiononthe1937LockheedElectra,[9]andisstillinwidespreaduse
onmodernaircraft,oftenwithmultipleslots.Asmentionedundertheplainflaps,variablegeometrywingsare
makingacomeback,andaGeneralDynamicsF111Aardvarkwasmodifiedwithsuchasystemthatactedasfowler
flapsbyNASAfortrialsontheAFTI/F111MissionAdaptiveWing.


JunkersFlap:aslottedplainflapwheretheflapisfixedbelowthetrailingedgeofthewing,rotatingaboutitsforward
edge.[10]Whennotinuse,ithasmoredragthanothertypesbutismoreeffectiveatcreatingadditionalliftthanaplain
orsplitflap,whileretainingtheirmechanicalsimplicity.InventedbyO.MaderatJunkersinthelate1920s,itwaswidely
usedontheJunkersJu52,thoughitcanbefoundonmanymodernultralights.
Gougeflap:atypeofsplitflapthatslidesbackwardalongcurvedtracksthatforcethetrailingedgedownward,
increasingchordandcamberwithoutaffectingtrimorrequiringanyadditionalmechanisms.[11]Itwasinventedby
ArthurGougeforShortBrothersin1936andusedontheShortEmpireandSunderlandflyingboatswhichusedthevery
thickShortsA.D.5airfoil.ShortBrothersmayhavebeentheonlycompanytousethistype.

FaireyYoungmanflap:dropsdown(becomingaJunkersFlap)beforeslidingaftandthenrotatingupordown.Fairey
wasoneofthefewexponentsofthisdesign,whichwasusedontheFaireyFireflyandFaireyBarracuda.Wheninthe
extendedposition,itcouldbeangledup(toanegativeangleofincidence)sothattheaircraftcouldbedivedvertically
withoutneedingexcessivetrimchanges.

ZapFlaporcommonlybutincorrectlyZappFlap:InventedbyEdwardF.ZaparkawhilehewaswithBerliner/Joyceand
testedonaGeneralAircraftCorporationAristocratin1932andonothertypesperiodicallythereafter,butitsawlittle
useonproductionaircraftotherthanontheNorthropP61BlackWidow.Theleadingedgeoftheflapismountedona
track,whileapointatmidchordontheflapisconnectedviaanarmtoapivotjustabovethetrack.Whentheflap's
leadingedgemovesaftalongthetrack,thetriangleformedbythetrack,theshaftandthesurfaceoftheflap(fixedat
thepivot)getsnarroweranddeeper,forcingtheflapdown.[12]

Kruegerflap:hingedflapwhichfoldsoutfromunderthewing'sleadingedgewhilenotformingapartoftheleading
edgeofthewingwhenretracted.Thisincreasesthecamberandthicknessofthewing,whichinturnincreasesliftand
drag.[13][14]Thisisnotthesameasaleadingedgedroopflap,asthatisformedfromtheentireleadingedge.[15]
InventedbyWernerKrgerin1943andevaluatedinGoettingen,[16]Kruegerflapsarefoundonmanymodernswept
wingairliners.

Gurneyflap:Asmallfixedperpendiculartabofbetween1and2%ofthewingchord,mountedonthehighpressure
sideofthetrailingedgeofanairfoil.ItwasnamedforracingcardriverDanGurneywhorediscovereditin1971,buthas
sinceusedonsomehelicopterssuchastheSikorskyS76Btocorrectcontrolproblemswithouthavingtoresorttoa
majorredesign.Itbooststheefficiencyofevenbasictheoreticalairfoils(madeupofatriangleandacircleoverlapped)


Leadingedgedroop:entireleadingedgeofthewingrotatingdownward,[17]effectivelyincreasingcamberbut
slightlyreducingchord.Mostcommonlyfoundonfighterswithverythinwingsunsuitedtootherleadingedgehigh
liftdevices.

Blownflaps:alsoknownasBoundaryLayerControlSystems,aresystemsthatblowengineairovertheupper
surfaceofanyofthepreviouslymentionedtypesofflaptoimproveliftcharacteristics.Twotypesexisttheoriginal
typeblewairoutofchannelsorholesinthesurfaceoftheflap,whilenewersystemssimplyblowengineexhaust
overthetopoftheflap.Theserequireamplereservesofpowerandaremaintenanceintensivethuslimitingtheir
usebuttheyprovidelotsofliftatlowairspeeds.AlthoughinventedbytheBritish,thefirstproductionaircraftwith
blownflapswastheLockheedF104Starfighter.ThelatertypewastrialledontheBoeingYC14in1976.

Controlsthatlooklikeflapsbutarenot:
HandleyPageleadingedgeslats/slotsmaybeconfusedforflapsbutaremountedonthetopofthewings'
leadingedgeandwhiletheymaybeeitherfixedorretractable,whendeployedtheyprovideaslotorgapunderthe
slattoforceairagainstthetopofthewingwhichisabsentonaKruegerflap.Theyofferexcellentliftandenhance
controllabilityatlowspeeds.Othertypesofflapsmaybeequippedwithoneormoreslotstoincreasetheir
effectiveness,atypicalsetuponmanymodernairliners.Theseareknownasslottedflapsasdescribedabove.
FrederickHandleyPageexperimentedwithforeandaftslotdesignsinthe20sand30s.
Spoilersmayalsobeconfusedforflapsbutareintendedsolelytocreatedragandnotlift.Aspoilerismuch
largerthanaGurneyflap,andcanberetracted.
Aileronsaresimilartoflaps(andworkthesameway)butareintendedtoprovidelateralcontrol,ratherthanto
changetheliftingcharacteristicsofbothwingstogether,andsooperatedifferentiallywhenanailerononone
wingincreasesthelift,theoppositeailerondoesnot,andwilloftenworktodecreaselift.Someaircraftuse
flaperons,whichcombineboththefunctionalityofflapsandaileronsinasinglecontrol,workingtogetherto
increaselift,buttoslightlydifferentdegreessotheaircraftwillrolltowardthesidegeneratingtheleastlift.
FlaperonswereusedbytheFaireyAviationCompanyasearlyas1916butdidn'tbecomecommonuntilafterWorld
WarII.