Op woensdag 12 februari 2014 01:12:40 UTC+1 schreef Steve Leonard:
On Tuesday, February 11, 2014 4:24:53 PM UTC-6, J. Nieuwenhuize wrote:
The pylon could be rather small, for a modern super-elliptic area
distribution (winglets), we now need a root chord of something like 24"..
Given the fairly low forces on the pylon (save yaw, groundloop), the pylon
could be a lot smaller in chord and thickness.

The smaller you make the pylon and closer you get the load reacting points together, the higher the loads go. And, if you make the pylon too small, you lost all your volume for control connections. :-) Also, check the root chord on the AS-W27, V2, or even the Diana or Duckhawk. Think they are still 27 to 30 inches.

I might have been too optimistic there with the root chord. Nevertheless I do expect the "next generation" to have narrower root chords, the modern super-elliptic planforms made possible by optimized winglets/polyhedral result in an almost untapered inner part of the wing.

I wouldn't worry too much about the loads on the pylon. Those are pretty small as compared to the wing. Packaging of the controls might be the major issue, though even there, there's some "unconquered terrain", see the Concordia control system. Having the flap/aileron mixer at the mid/outer wing joint could be a solution.


Here is some more in-depth discussion on pylon-mounted (sailplane) wings by the same author as your truly ;-)

http://www.homebuiltairplanes.com/fo...ylon-wing.html