John;
At some point, making the thing longer increases the parasitic skin drag
to a point where it is higher than the induced drag. This is the "point
of diminishing returns".
Regards, Neil Tucson, AZ
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-land-speed@autox.team.net
[mailto:owner-land-speed@autox.team.net] On Behalf Of John Burk
Sent: Saturday, January 08, 2005 2:37 PM
To: land-speed@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: Aero Revelations
Easy there Dave , don't holler at the messenger - I'm just a curious
seeker of
information wondering why what I read disagrees with what I've been told
- It
makes sense that a more gradualy tapered body should be best but here is
the
NACA saying no - A 66-012 with 10 deg is 38% slipperier than a 7 deg
0012 ,
both with the same width/length - A 16 deg. 66-021 is one of the
lowest
drag shapes - Incidentaly 18" was a common sholder width for dragsters -
Mine
was 17 1/2" and was very comfortable - John
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