Paper Flight
Epic Long Distance Flyers
Aeronautical Design
To design a high performance model aircraft, aeronautical design is very significant.
The planform shape of the wing has a large effect on in-flight stability. In general, flight stability is a direct consequence of the design of the aircraft.
Conventional aircraft can have the size and configuration of their tailplanes and tailfins calculated with high precision, allowing for smooth, controllable flight.
Canard aircraft also benefit from the same mathematics to design aircraft of great stability and flight smoothness. They have advantages for inexperienced pilots, in that their canard surface will stall before the main wing, as an aid to flight safety. Canard jet fighters use their forward surfaces as a leverage to produce very tight turning performance.
Delta wing aircraft have triangular-planform wings, which give advantage in delaying wave front shockwaves for supersonic flight, combined with benign takeoff and landing performance.
Paper aircraft are, in general, gliders or sailplanes, where their flight performance is provided by hand energy or catapult energy, followed b the acceleration of gravity.
Best use of airspeed by the wing has long been known to be a function of aspect ratio, or AR.
Aspect Ratio, for straight-winged designs by dividing Mean Aerodynamic Chord (at the wing Centroid of Area) by the wingspan.
Other wing shapes can have their AR calculated as a function of surface area divided by wingspan.
Sailplanes benefit from a high AR, and depending on their speed range, other aircraft types benefit from wings of lower AR as far as possible.
Civil airliners, for instance, have AR ratios that are often as great as that of sailplanes - which is of benefit for flight efficiency and passenger comfort.
