Wing Tip Shapes

[Bob Richards]

Highly tapered or elliptical planforms are more efficient, ie: burn less fuel in level flight. Same goes for high-aspect ratio wings. If efficiency was an important parameter for aerobatics, then we would be flying planes that look more like gliders.
 
Some of the full scale planes have airfoils that would never be used in ordinary aircraft. They are designed for stall characteristics dictated by the type of maneuvers being flown. Some of this same design criteria applies to our pattern models. Drag can be a good thing for us, IMHO.
 
Bob.


Dieter Rozek <rozekd at earthlink.net> wrote:

After looking at many different Pattern and IMAC models and even full 
scale for that matter, I noticed that the wing planform
for most aerobatic aircraft ends in a blunt tip. I may be wrong about 
this but the information which I've read regarding aerodynamics
would suggest that this kind of wing tip generates drag as opposed to a 
highly tapered or fusiform shape such at a spitfire.
My question is does this type of tip help at slower speed and therefore 
that's why it's being used or why the blunt ends on
all the aerobatic planes?

Dieter

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