Timeline for What does a wing do that an engine can't?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
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| Jul 3, 2014 at 15:51 | comment | added | Ove | I should probably clarify that the energy lost in drag, though significant on large aircraft at high speeds, is typically much less than the energy it would take to produce the thrust it would take to lift that same aircraft without help from the air. Common aircraft engines usually aren't even powerful enough to do that. | |
| Jul 3, 2014 at 15:18 | comment | added | Ove | @Jonas: yeah, I suspected someone might say that, but I wanted to keep it simple. Drag is a necessary side effect of the dynamics of a wing, but is not what actually creates the lift. However, if you like, the gearbox analogy can be used: wings is a device that converts drag, which has a small force but can take significant energy to overcome, into lift, which has a large force but almost no energy. | |
| Jun 28, 2014 at 17:07 | comment | added | leftaroundabout | @Jonas: drag is made up of a frictional part and a part from diverting air momentum downwards. By making the wings very big and airflow slow, you can minimise both arbitrarily so it's indeed "possible" to stay airborne without engines... theoretically. In practise, big wings also come with big mass and sacrificing speed is only reasonable up to a certain point – when it becomes simpler to just build an airship. | |
| Jun 28, 2014 at 16:51 | comment | added | Jonas Greitemann | I don't think wings would allow you to stay airborne without engines. You said "disregarding drag" but isn't that drag exactly what provides the upward lift of the wings? | |
| Jun 28, 2014 at 16:27 | history | edited | Ove | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Jun 28, 2014 at 16:20 | review | First posts | |||
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| Jun 28, 2014 at 16:04 | history | answered | Ove | CC BY-SA 3.0 |