Swept Wings

[thecoltster]

Hi,

I've just been re-reading over my ATPL notes (-lost the text book!) and through my PoF books. Looking back at the section on swept wings,could somebody possibly confirm or correct me on these facts, in comparison to a straight wing:

They stall at a higher aoa? But have a proportinally smaller Clmax to a straight wing?-a much shallower lift curve?
Acft with swept wings can fly faster as they delay Mcrit?
They are more likely to tip stall?is this due to a weaker boundary layer? Is this enhanced if the wings are tapered?- is it fences that prevents this happening is this why they are in place?
And are the high lift devices not as effective on such a wing...is this because of their realitive aspect ratio in comparison to a straight wing?

I really hope some of that makes sense and would consequently love to have my thoughts confirmed or ridiculed as absolute rubbish!

Cheers


COLT

[TheFox]

These answers might be inaccurate because its been a while since the degree, and i haven’t needed to use it :D

Yep swept wings help reduce the onset of shock waves there by allowing aircraft to fly closer to the sound barrier.

Wings tend to be taper from a structural stand point, also tapering used to help reduce induced drag.

Fences stop the span wise progression of the airflow

Wings that are swept can have the same aspect ratio as straight ones.

Sorry I couldn’t be more helpful, I could find my text book that puts it into English, the only one I could find was far too mathematical

[ORAC]

Advanced Topics in Aerodynamics (http://aerodyn.org/contents.html)