Which Wing Design Has The Greatest Lift?

Question: Which Wing Design Has The Greatest Lift?

Hypothesis: For my wing experiment, I predict that a slightly swept wing like the one on my dad plane would generate the most lift. This is because it’s super efficient, and many people who own planes, usually have slightly swept wings. I also predict that a highly swept wing, like on fighter jets, would generate the least amount of lift due to it’s awkward design.

Problem: My problem was that one day, my Dad and I went flying to Trenton to get his bonanza fixed. While on the way there, I noticed the wings being slightly swept meaning that the wings were barely on a slant. From that point on, I wondered if there was a better wing design to use on all planes.

Procedure:

Wind Tunnel

• 1. Find a Cardboard box about 16in by 12in.

  2. To make the box secure, put a thin platform under it.

  3. Staple the box to the platform with a staple gun.

  4. Find a 10in fan that has three powers; No power, Low Power, High Power.

  5. Cut two holes on the box; One on the side and the other on top.

  6. Find plexi glass to fill the holes and make sure no unnecessary air gets out. (The holes are going to act as a viewing window so dont make them to small!)

  7. Put a scale in the box that reads grams. (Food scales work great)

  8. To get more air under the model airplane, put a piece of wood under the scale.

  9. To elevate the airplane even more, get to pieces of wood, and stick the wood on top of the scale.

  10. To secure the model airplane, put two really small and thin pieces of wood on the side.

Model Airplane

• 1. Carve out three wings from balsa wood; Slightly Swept, Moderately Swept, Highly Swept. (Balsa wood is really fragile, so be careful)

  2. Attach the wings to a foam airplane. (I found really cheap model airplanes to use at CVS)

  3. To secure the airplane, attach hooks to each of the model airplanes nose, and attach one hook on the box hanging down.

  4. Find two washers and sewing string, and attach one washer on the nose of the airplane, and one washer on the box.

  5. Turn the fan on for 30 seconds on low power, and high power to see the results!

***ITS IMPORTANT TO HAVE A GUARDIAN/PARENT TO BE WATCHING WHILE YOU'RE CUTTING OUT THE VIEWING WINDOWS FOR THE WINGS***

Abstract:

In my experiment, I wanted to know which kind of airplane wing could generate the most lift. While flying in an airplane with my dad, I noticed the wings being slightly swept. I wondered if there was any specific type of wing that could generate the most lift. I predicted that a slightly swept wing like the one my dad was flying will generate the most lift due to its simple and efficient design.

To test my hypothesis, I used 3 balsa wood airplane designs: a slightly swept wing, a moderately swept wing, and a highly swept wing. Four tests would be done on each wing. First, I had to build a wind tunnel. To build the wind tunnel, I found a cardboard box that was 16in by 12in. Next, I made sure it was secure by putting a thin platform under it, then I used a staple gun to secure it in place. I used a 10in fan to represent wind. The fan had three powers: No power, low power, and high power. After that, I cut two holes on the box, one on top of the box and one on the side of the box. I used plexi glass to cover the holes, acting like a viewing window. Then I put a scale in the box to show my readings. To make it more accurate, however, I put a piece of wood under the scale to elevate it more, allowing more wind to get under the plane. I put then two more pieces of smaller wood on top of the scale to elevate it even more. To make the airplane secure, I put two really thin pieces of wood to act like railings on the side.

To build the airplane wings, my dad helped me carve the designs out of balsa wood and we found foam airplane models to use. To make the airplane model even more secure, we put two hooks on: one on the cardboard box, and one on the nose of the model airplanes. We then found two washers and a sewing string. We attached one washer on the hook, then used the other to attach to the nose of the plane.

The starting amount for all planes was 10g. Testing was based on the amount of lift the wing generated when wind was blowing toward it from the fan. The data showed that the slightly swept wing generated the most lift. On low power the slightly swept wing generated an average of 4.5g , and on high power, the wing generated an average of 6g. Coming in second place the moderately swept wing on low power generated an average of 3g, and on high, an average of 4.75g. In last place, the highly swept wing generated an average on low power of 3.75g, and generated an average on high power of 3.5g.

The result of this experiment proved my hypothesis to be right. The slightly swept wing generated the most lift. However, many might think, why do engineers design fighter jets using highly swept wings? This is because the highly swept wings generate the most lift at speeds above the speed of sound which makes sense since they need more power to generate lift. Accuracy was kept by making sure all model planes was the same weight, and that each plane was timed for thirty seconds. To support these results, a different type of material should be used such as foam to see if a lighter wing makes any difference. In conclusion, the findings of my wing experiment indicate that a slightly swept wing generates more lift at slower speeds.

Conclusion: My data that I collected proved my hypothesis to be right. The slightly swept wing generated the most lift going down to an average of 4.5g on low power, and an average of 6g on high power. Behind 1st place was the moderately swept wing generating an average of 3g on low power and an average of 4.75g on high power. No surprise, last place went to the highly swept wing which generated 3.75g on low power, and an average of 3.5g on high power. Although the highly swept wing did come in last, many engineers use it for fighter jets. This is because that highly swept wings generate the most lift at speeds faster than the speed of sound.