2. The variations of pitching moment coefficient versus angle of attack Figure 5.

13 shows the typical variations of pitching moment coefficient versus angle of attack for a positive cambered airfoil. The slope of this graph is usually negative and it is in the region of negative Cm for typical range angle of attacks. The negative slope is desirable, since it stabilizes the flight, if the angle of attack is disturbed by a gust. The negative Cm is sometimes referred to as nose-down pitching moment. This is due to its negative direction about y-axis which means the aircraft nose will be pitched down by such moment. Figure 5.14 also illustrates the typical variations of pitching moment coefficient versus lift coefficient for a positive cambered airfoil. The magnitude of Cm is almost constant for the typical ranges of lift coefficient. The typical magnitude is usually about -0.02 to -0.05. The design objective is to have the Cm close to zero as much as possible. The reason is that the aircraft must be in equilibrium in cruising flight. This pitching moment must be nullified by another component of the aircraft, such as tail. Thus, the higher Cm (more negative) results in a larger tail, which means the heavier aircraft. Therefore the airfoil which has the lower Cm is more desirable. It is interesting to note that the pitching moment coefficient for a symmetrical airfoil section is zero.
Cd

Cd min

Cl min

(Cd/Cl)min

Cl

Figure 5.15. The typical variations of drag coefficient versus lift coefficient

3. The variations of drag coefficient as a function of lift coefficient Figure 5.15 shows the typical variations of drag coefficient as a function of lift coefficient for a positive cambered airfoil. The lowest point of this graph is called minimum drag coefficient ( Cd min ). The corresponding lift coefficient to the minimum drag coefficient is called Clmin . As the drag is directly related to the cost of flight, the Cd min is of great importance in airfoil design or airfoil selection. A typical value for Cd min is about 0.003 to 0.006. Therefore the airfoil which has the lower Cd min is more desirable.

Wing Design

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