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Old December 31st 03, 12:24 PM
Simon Waddell
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Eric,

What you and Herbert appear to be saying is that thee mylar is only a
fairing, rather than a seal. Since the mylar is in turbulent airflow the
need for a fairing at that point seems limited. At the moment, the seal is
provided by flexible adhesive tape over the join (upper surface only).
Would I be better off (financially, yes!) to forget about mylar and stick
(not to pun) with the adhesive tape, perhaps on both upper and lower
surfaces?

Simon


"Eric Greenwell" wrote in message
...
Simon Waddell wrote:
I tried asking this questionon on a different thread; it may have been

too
off topic, but I didn't get much of a response:

I'm putting mylar control surface seals on the wings of a Mini Nimbus

this
winter. At the moment I'm planning on fixing them to the finished wing
surface. The alternative is to rebate (recess) them into the wing.

This
creates a smoother surface but costs more money and is harder to undo.

Anyone know of any research (or anecdotes) on the impact on wing

performance
of leaving such seals proud of the surface? My assumption is the

airflow
over the wing is pretty much turbulent at the wing/aileron join anyway,

so
the impact should be minimal.


I think you are right. In any case, the effect of even perfectly done
fairings is small (you won't notice it, and would have great difficulty
measuring it with flight tests), especially on an older airfoil, so the
effort and cost of recessing the mylar isn't worth it. Be sure there is
an actual _seal_ (flexible tape stuck to the wing and the control
surface) installed, in addition to the mylar fairings, so air can't leak
through the gap.

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Eric Greenwell
Washington State
USA