Wing Area - Activity

Wing Area Problems
If so instructed by your teacher, print out a worksheet page for these problems.

Using the picture and dimensions provided, calculate the area of the Wright Brothers wing section and the F-18 Blue Angels wing. Record your answers in the data table.
Open the FoilSim program. Set your airspeed =100, altitude =2,500, angle=5.0, thickness =12.5, and camber=0. Change the area by plugging in the values you calculated for each wing area and record the resulting lift force in your data table.
Graph your results with the calculated values for area on the x-axis and the lift force on the y-axis. (Be sure to label your graph.)
What is the relationship suggested by this graph?
Find and record the slope of your graph.
Using the calculated slope, write the equation for the line (on your graph) using the form
L = Constant * A, where L is the lift, constant is the slope, and A is the area.
Using your equation, calculate the lift produced by the Boeing 747 and Concorde (area given in table). Record your answers in the table.
Using your equation, calculate the area of the Space Shuttle compound wing (lift given in table). Record your answer in the table.
Design a trapezoid wing that will generate a lift force of 121,000 lbs. Your wing span (distance from wing tip to wing tip) may not exceed 95 feet.

Please send any comments to:
Curator: Tom.Benson@grc.nasa.gov
Responsible Official: Kathy.Zona@grc.nasa.gov

Wing