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Old 1st July 2008, 14:31   #45 (permalink)
barit1
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: flyover country USA
Age: 67
Posts: 2,789
Quote:
Since we have seen that the power necessary for lift is proportional to one over the length of the wing, a wing of infinite span does not require power for lift
An infinite span - It's an absurdity on the face of it, right?

Simply postulating a mathematical asymtotic extrapolation doesn't mean we have to build the damn thing.

Matter of fact, if we build a wing with slightly over a 40 million meter span, the left tip will meet the right tip, there will be no tip vortices, and it can float at zero IAS.
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