Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!rutgers!att!cbnews!military From: marco@ncsc.navy.mil (Barbarisi) Newsgroups: sci.military Subject: Re: Inverted Gull Wings Message-ID: <1990Jun4.192833.2620@cbnews.att.com> Date: 4 Jun 90 19:28:33 GMT Sender: military@cbnews.att.com (William B. Thacker) Distribution: na Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories Lines: 38 Approved: military@att.att.com From: marco@ncsc.navy.mil (Barbarisi) From: D Murphy of Edinburgh Univ. Chemistry >I was watching a film about a US fighter squadron in the Pacific in WW2 a >few days ago, and they were flying big inverted-gull winged single seaters >(so I don't think they were Corsairs). What were they, and what advantages >the inverted gull give the plane ? The only significant US fighter in WWII that had inverted gull wings was the Chance-Vought F4U Corsair. They are the only craft that fit Mr. Murphy's description. The Corsair was the largest and heaviest single-seat carrier fighter of the war. The primary US Navy aircraft of the war were the Corsair, the Grumman Wildcat, and the Grumman Hellcat. Wait! I just remembered that the Hellcat had a slightly bent wing, a subtle inverted gull shape, not nearly as pronounced as that of the Corsair. I stand self-corrected. For the benefit of those who don't know, an "inverted gull wing" looks like this when viewed head-on: Fuselage / \ ___________/ \___________ Inverted gull wings are used to make the landing gear as short, strong, and simple as possible while providing sufficient ground clearance for a huge propellor. Extra large propellors are needed to efficiently tap the power of a big engine. Extra strong landing gear is needed on a carrier plane to absorb the shock when a plane slams onto the deck. In the cases of the Hellcat and the Corsair, the design tradeoff was between a straight wing with heavy and complicated landing gear and an inverted gull wing with lighter and simpler gear, albeit at a slight loss of aerodynamic efficiency and an increase in the structural complexity of the wing. Marco C. Barbarisi Naval Coastal Systems Center Panama City, Florida marco@ncsc.navy.mil