Search the Community

Hi all! The standard wings, visually at least, have the same width at the root as they do at the tip, and at the front as they do at the back. They're boards with nice edges. The Big-S series of wings, however, has varying thicknesses and a much more dynamic profile. They taper to the wingtip, and have a thicker airfoil, several times thicker than the standard wings. I know this thickness is probably meant to model the fuel capacity and look nice with larger planes, but I'm curious if there are any other aerodynamic effects of the dimensions that distinguish them from their early-tech-tree cousins. Do Big-S wings have higher drag (like they would, intuitively, judging by their size)? Do they produce more lift at low speeds than a standard wing constructed to the same planform shape? Do they produce more lift at the wing root than at the wing tip? Heck, does it stall at the wing root first? ...or is it just a different-looking standard wing that you can fill with fuel? Those of you with more programming experience than me (i.e., x>0) would probably be able to navigate the part file or aero model to see any differences, so besides designing and flying a carefully controlled flight test experiment, I can't answer these questions as well as you guys can. Thanks!