Transatlantic Model Airplane Flight to Begin Shortly

dtmos writes "An update on this old story -- Maynard Hill's attempt to fly an 11-lb. model airplane across the Atlantic (from Newfoundland to Ireland) is due to begin tomorrow night, Newfoundland time. This would be the first transatlantic flight by a true model under FAI rules (this plane was too large to qualify). News and updates, background information, some technical info."

Comments

Re:Good luck

[Shadow Wrought]

Lift is a function of the shape of the wing's airfoil, the size of the wing, the angle of attack at which the wing is flying, and the speed of the airflow over the wing. It does not equal control and I have no idea what you mean in terms of it rises as a square. Two wings of exactly the same square footage can have different lifting capabilities based solely on the aspect ratio of the wing (ie the length compared the width). That is why you may have noticed that gliders have long skinny wings- they maximize the lift for the given amount of area.

The choppy winds will pose less of a problem in many respects also. The "choppiness" is caused by different aircurrents affecting the aircraft simultaneously. In a 747 moving at 600kts with a 200' length, you are going to intersect numerous sheers of aircurretns repeatedly, bouncing the plane around and causing the "choppiness". A slow tiny thing like this model just isn't going to have that problem.

Personally I wish them well. They are undertaking a great challenge, and I would love to be there with them!

Re:Air traffic controller

[vofka]

Err - no...

Commercial ATC Operators don't 'see' the aircraft on screen, they 'see' a transponder signal (known as a 'squawk') which is sent by the transponder unit when the ATC Radar strikes a detector on the aircraft. Only Military Radar Operators actually 'see' a true radar return signal.