Showing posts with label aerodynamics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label aerodynamics. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Wings over the Civic

With no intrepid souls wanting to follow me into the chasm of madness that is suction downforce, I needed to find a kinder, gentler path to the banned technology award. Preferably one that didn't involve an extra motor and a 100lb fan. The solution? A giant wing.

A fully loaded Cessna 172 weighs about the same as a Civic and travels at similar speeds depending on which way the wind is blowing. A chunk of Cessna wing should be able to produce some serious downforce if turned upside-down on the roof of the car. Thanks NASA, for making FoilSim available. I used the camber and cord thickness from the Cessna wing (it's a NACA 2412 profile) and plugged them in. At 65 mph and 15 degrees, the angle of maximum downforce, we get over 1000 lb!


A trip to the local aircraft salvage produced a 6ft chunk of 172 wing with just a few dings. It even came with a flap.

A special thanks is in order to John and Blake at Atlanta Air Exchange for helping us out with our insanity.