low aspect ratio ultralight
After decades of thinking high aspect ratio wings were needed my view now is low aspect ratio is best for an ultralight. There is a small group of designers thinking about low aspect ratio, including Barnaby Wainfan who built the Facetmobile and also gives talks at the Oshkosh forums about the advantages of low aspect ratio (AR).
Some major advantages of low AR are:
1) much lower weight wing with less spar load.
2) very good stall/spin resistance.
3) more compact overall.
4) more manueverable.
5) less gust reaction from lower lift slope curve.
My question is:
Are the aspect ratio charts in textbooks like THEORY OF WINGS SECTIONS based on wings of equal area or wings of same span?
It is not specified in the book.
An aero-engineer told me it does'nt matter in a wind tunnel. But it sure matters on the full size. I am confused. Any thoughts are appreciated.
slowrotor