pierre smith
Well Known Member
...for you guys wanting to reduce drag.
Years ago, I put drops of black, used oil on the leading edges of my homemade brake fairings on my Cassutt and I wondered if I'd shaped them correctly. I flew around the pattern and went wide open and then landed. Low and behold.....beautiful streaks all the way to the rear....good, laminar airflow.
So today while I was refueling my dirty Air Tractor for another load, I looked at the leading edges and saw the turbulence behind the round-head rivets and remembered reading in an EAA publication years ago that the first rivet causes as much drag as the next seven..well here it is...the leading edge is on the right side and the chemical streaks show airflow.
I'm gonna do the fuel drains and aileron hinges of my -6 with a few drops of black oil and go fly....a cheap wind tunnel.
Regards,
Years ago, I put drops of black, used oil on the leading edges of my homemade brake fairings on my Cassutt and I wondered if I'd shaped them correctly. I flew around the pattern and went wide open and then landed. Low and behold.....beautiful streaks all the way to the rear....good, laminar airflow.
So today while I was refueling my dirty Air Tractor for another load, I looked at the leading edges and saw the turbulence behind the round-head rivets and remembered reading in an EAA publication years ago that the first rivet causes as much drag as the next seven..well here it is...the leading edge is on the right side and the chemical streaks show airflow.
I'm gonna do the fuel drains and aileron hinges of my -6 with a few drops of black oil and go fly....a cheap wind tunnel.
Regards,