Since watching "Lift Ticket" I have also been thinking a lot about how
this DS'ing thing works. I too can "see" how it works but can't quite
explain it. I have been thinking that a sailplane entering back into the
flow of air above the crest of the hill is sort of like a sailboat
tacking into the wind. The difference between the sailboat and DS'ing
sailplane is that the sailplane already has a lot of kinetic energy
(speed) and when it enters the air flow it gets another "push" that
imparts more speed to the sailplane. The magnitude of the "push" depends
upon two angles with which the sailplane enters the air stream. There
appear to be two angles that must be considered. If you consider the
flight path of a repetitive DS'ing "loop pattern" to lie in a plane then
the there is an angle between the "loop pattern plane" and the vertical,
and there is another angle between the "loop pattern plane" and vector
of the wind force. There is a certain combination of angles that gives
the energy boost on each cycle. This energy boost is a combination of
the magnitude of the "push" and the duration of the push. Joe Wurts
sort of alluded to the angles of a DS'ing flight path when he said in
the video that you can DS using a vertical looping flight path but that
is not very efficient. I guess the least efficient flight path would be
a vertical "loop pattern plane" (the first angle) aligned straight on
with the direction of the wind (the second angle). I am not sure what
the most efficient flight path is but I'm sure some math whiz can figure
it out.
Does anyone know if I'm anywhere's close to being on the right track
with this explanation?
Cliff (I've got to get a snow blower 'cause my back can't take much more
of this shoveling) Schwinger
Erica and or Rob wrote:
>
> Hey now,
> I don't know how to explain it, but I can "see" how it works.
> My trouble is my wife saw all the broken planes, and now she doesn't want
> me anywhere near "the dark side":-( .
RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and
"unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
