>This is a nice program, but
>it leaves a bit to
>be desired. It ignores wing
>tips, which can be substantial,
>area wise, and it won't
>get anywhere near close if
>you have an elliptical wing.
>It is accurate for a
>straight or tapered wing with
>square wing tips.
>Bare
Bare,
Must agree that the Wing Calc. is simple in format, and it will not do the calc. related to elliptical wings as you state. Part of the reasons for even doing the sheet was as means to explore the Excel format, learn a little bit about it's how's' and whys, and maybe have it do something for me, albeit, something on the small scale. There are many different calculators available on the net. I just wanted something home grown that could reside on my desk top and do a few simple tasks. This may be the case for others in the community, so it's here for the taking if you find you can make use of it, lacking in content as it is.
Must also admit that I welcome the comments such as yours, as it gives me incentive to try and improve the sheet and my skills with it. To that end, I have the following updates to include in the "Wing Calc Plus II" as I'm calling it. The information is again garnered from different sites on the net, namely www.palosrc.com from which the formula were sourced. And John Hopkinson site at:
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/JHopkinson/wing2.html
He has an in depth calculator at the above address that may be worth a look see. I have included some of his aerodynamic term definitions also on the new sheet to help me in understanding the aerodynamic theory. These terms are broad based, and do not reflect or target the aerodynamic niche that C/L falls into, keep that in mind. The terms section is still under construction also.
What I'd like to do is have it evolve to a semi-useful tool, that may be more on the tutorial side with the use of the comments boxes to help explain, and or, give definition to some of the aerodynamic terms that come into play in our model efforts and that we hear time and again here on the boards. I'll post updates as they come along and as time permits. So keep the comments and ideas coming. Re: elliptical wings: Where can I go to learn about working some numbers on this type of plan form, ...back to school? I already heard that one, (smile). Any other idea's?
Tony
Here's the new zip file:
http://www.clstunt.com/htdocs/dcforum/User_files/3b3bec85493cdcec.zip