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Wing Dihedral..

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Old 12-06-2009, 09:01 PM
  #11  
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Originally Posted by X Rated View Post
That ^ would be referred to as anhedral, like the horizontal stabilizer of the old F-4 Phantom.

X
Or, if memory serves, the wings of the Tu-154 and most Dassault Falcon corporate jets. Some aircraft have anhedral wings, too. Graceful looking things. Otherwise the aircraft would be *too* stable.
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Old 12-07-2009, 02:42 AM
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Originally Posted by SomedayRJ View Post
Or, if memory serves, the wings of the Tu-154 and most Dassault Falcon corporate jets. Some aircraft have anhedral wings, too. Graceful looking things. Otherwise the aircraft would be *too* stable.
Here is a prime example for you, this plane was way to laterally stable just from its shear size. The result:

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Old 12-07-2009, 12:27 PM
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I believe the Harrier has anhedral wings.

While some some horizontal stabilizers seemingly have anhedral, remembering that a horizontal stab is an upside down wing makes me think it functions more like dihedral (providing designed stability). Am I crazy?
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Old 12-07-2009, 01:58 PM
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Some things I saw on the website that I linked to earlier...
- A swept wing has the same effect as a couple degrees of dihedral.
- A high mounted wing has the same effect as a couple degrees of dihedral.
- Thus, high wing airplanes (C-17, C-5, C-141), have a little anhedral to counter the effective dihedral.
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Old 12-07-2009, 02:45 PM
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As far as I know lateral stability is usually measured in units of effective dihedral. A high wing airplane with a wing at zero degrees (no dihedal) inherently has a few degrees of effective dihedral due to the keel effect. Swept wing airplanes also have a few degrees of effective dihedral.

So on high wing/swept wing planes (think harrier, C141/C17/C5 etc..) there is too much inherent stability, so the wings are swept down (anhedral) to retain some degree of maneuverability.

Hope that helps some
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Old 12-07-2009, 03:01 PM
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Originally Posted by PW305 View Post
As far as I know lateral stability is usually measured in units of effective dihedral. A high wing airplane with a wing at zero degrees (no dihedal) inherently has a few degrees of effective dihedral due to the keel effect. Swept wing airplanes also have a few degrees of effective dihedral.
High wing ~5 degrees. Swept wing depends on the degree of sweep and I do not know the formula.
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Old 12-08-2009, 04:01 AM
  #17  
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Originally Posted by PW305 View Post
As far as I know lateral stability is usually measured in units of effective dihedral. A high wing airplane with a wing at zero degrees (no dihedal) inherently has a few degrees of effective dihedral due to the keel effect. Swept wing airplanes also have a few degrees of effective dihedral.

So on high wing/swept wing planes (think harrier, C141/C17/C5 etc..) there is too much inherent stability, so the wings are swept down (anhedral) to retain some degree of maneuverability.
x2

Keel effect plays an important, albeit subordinate role to dihedral
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Old 12-28-2009, 06:56 PM
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To keep the plane level... less maneuverable but more stable... the opposite type is more maneuverable... this is good:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dihedral_(aircraft)
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Old 12-29-2009, 03:40 AM
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A B-52 inflight doesn't have the droop that it does on the ground. In addition, all planes that have high wing placement have stability by virtue of the verticle CG being below the wing.


Originally Posted by shdw View Post
Here is a prime example for you, this plane was way to laterally stable just from its shear size. The result:

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Old 12-29-2009, 12:41 PM
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Originally Posted by jonnyjetprop View Post
A B-52 inflight doesn't have the droop that it does on the ground. In addition, all planes that have high wing placement have stability by virtue of the verticle CG being below the wing.
True, in flight is less, but still exists. The point was the design phase for this aircraft. If you research its design you will discover it was one of the first times (1955) that anhidral was specifically used to counter lateral stability.

And yes, all high wings do, that was previous mentioned. It equates to approximately 5 degrees of dihedral versus a low wing. That is why the low wing piper trainers have about 5 degrees more than their high wing cessna buddies.

See, still a decent amount of anhedral, even in flight:

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