Frankly, I think this thread is getting a little thin, but did want to make one
comment.
The most expense in operating an airliner is fuel. My company also figured out
if you didn't
paint the thing, ( I think they used a 727 for this ), you saved 460 pounds of
weight, and
God only knows how much money for the paint. ( I seem to remember it was about
$45 a gallon )
don't much remember the end except they now could translate the fuel savings
from not having
the weight of the paint. And it was considerable....
And as to anyone who thinks the surface of an aerodynamic shape doesn't matter,
you should
have seen original test flights of the F-104 ( which was an AF plane, but
conducted at
Navy Oceana. That beast had specially fitted covers to protect the front
surface of the wing.
One of the tests they did was to put a grease mark on the front of the
wing....The thing
was absolutely unable to get airborne on a 15000' runway.
Now coax is round and smooth. ( at least all I've ever seen. The ONLY way you
could reduce
the drag would be to employ the Magnus principle. The is the principle that
caused all those
little dents to be placed on golf balls, and why commercial airlines have
exposed rivet heads
on the wing and body.
73,
Ed
-------------------------------------
Name: Ed Sleight
E-mail: k4sb@avana.net
To: <towertalk@contesting.com>
Date: 2/17/97
Time: 11:09:48 PM
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