PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - CofG and induced drag
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Old 15th Jan 2009, 01:47
  #14 (permalink)  
airfoilmod
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Don't try this at home.

FE Hoppy, you are on the money. Any dynamic balanced mass will tend to follow an existing path, the problem is control input, rate of change and lateral stability. An x plane @ Edwards flew with ailerons on the leading edges of the wings. No mortal, (and few current computers) could keep up with Delta roll. There is nothing untoward about shifting the cg aft (generally by adjusting fuel use) and pushing ND trim to add lift and drag to the tailplane, lowering the AOA of the a/c and its overall induced drag, which saves aforementioned fuel.