Originally Posted by
Jan Olieslagers
Flying a Kitfox derivative, but not being a native English speaker, I find this phrase fascinating and a bit bewildering.
How do you define or describe a "slippy" aircraft?
What is the relation between a plane's appearance and its "slippiness"?
Sorry to have confused you. Maybe I should have said more slippery or less draggy!
However, imho slippy looking aircraft tend to have short, smooth and thin wings, small and/or very closely spatted wheels, fairings where two surfaces meet and all gaps sealed as much as possible.
They do not tend to have long, thick, fabric-covered wings, very large wheels and tyres, struts, not many fairings and large gaps at the front of the control surfaces. These features are typical of the Avid Flyer and it's derivatives.
Nevertheless, what I was trying to convey was that they will float a long way on rounding out if you approach 10-15 knots too fast.