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Re: Corsairs bendy wing

Posted by Richard Allnutt on Fri Oct 05, 2001 11:09:06 AM

In reply top Re: Corsairs bendy wing posted by MickM on Fri Oct 05, 2001 07:17:13 AM

The severe stall was due to the left wing stalling well before the right wing. The aircraft would whip and roll viciously to the left in such instances, making it very hard to recover when low to the ground... or next to impossible if a spin was entered. The reason that the left wing stalled first was due to the direction of propellor rotatiion, and yes, I guess the severity of stall speed differential between the right and left wings was accentuated due to the bent wing. The cure to the problem was very simple, and was applied fairly early in the war... certainly by the time the -1A'a were rolling out. They put a small wedge of balsa wood on the leading edge of the right wing, just outboard of the gun ports. This made the right wing stall at the same speed as the left, and hence balanced the stalling characteristics.

With regards to the choice of undercarriage used on the Bearcat, I am not sure. I do know that the propellor was not a Hamilton standard, I think Air Products made it, and it's possible that the blade arc was of smaller diameter than the corsairs, though I am not certain of this.... At any rate, different companies often come up with different solutions to the same problem, and this may be just such a case.

Hope this helps.

Richard

: Tanks Christer!
:
: Yes I know about the undercarriage problems, but the reduc
: ed interference drag is interesting.
: Does that mean that the wing on other aircraft like the St
: uka were similarly more efficient than a straight wing, or
: does it also depend on the shape of the fuselage, the Cor
: sair being round shaped at the wing area?
:
: Coincidentally I just read this on the two-seat Corsair si
: te:-
:
: "While the Navy and Marine Corps never purchased it, Chanc
: e-Vought produced and offered a two seat trainer version i
: n 1946. It's surprising they never purchased any of this v
: ersion considering the many training accidents that occurr
: ed due to the severe stall break of the airfoil. If it had
: been available sooner the decision might have been differ
: ent".
:
: Now, was the severe stall break a result of the wing being
: "bent", or is there more to it than that, such as the air
: foil section?
:
: Actually, regarding the bent wing being neccessary because
: of the huge prop, and the requirement for shorter legs, w
: hy was the Bearcat built with articulated legs, rather tha
: n in the same fashion as the Corsair.....surely the same p
: rincipals apply.....more or less?
:
: Answers on a postcard to.....
: Mick
:
:
:
:
:
: : Mick,
: : From what I?ve read the main reasons for the bent wing a
: re
: : two.
: : 1) Reduced interference drag at the joint between win
: g
: : and fuselage, the attachment is at right angles.
: : 2) The undercarriage gets short enough to take the pu
: ni
: : shment of carrier deck landings. With a straight wing th
: ey
: : would be very long to achieve ground clearance for the
: bi
: : g propeller.
: :
: : Regards,
: : Christer

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