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Old 2nd Feb 2017, 20:42
  #79 (permalink)  
n5296s
 
Join Date: Jun 2003
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Whatever the right answer is, 2230 some people read this topic, without commenting
Yep, been keeping out of this one, but it has been a fun read.

It did make me think of something from one of my favourite books, The Concorde Stick and Rudder Book. Apparently landing Concorde in a strong headwind could lead to a very nasty surprise because of the huge relative height difference between the back of the wing and the rest of it. So the trailing edge is much more in ground effect than the rest. As it gets very close to the ground, the headwind reduces due to ground friction. At some point the part of the wing that is doing the most work drops out of - well, not the sky, but where it is.

I don't pretend to follow the detailed math/aerodynamics, but the net effect is a "did we land or were we shot down" landing.

Last edited by n5296s; 2nd Feb 2017 at 21:16.
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