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hermitcrabyesterday at 8:56 AM3 repliesview on HN

So, 2 gliders with identical geometry, one standard and one made of lead will have the same glide angle? That sounds unlikely.


Replies

rkomornyesterday at 9:13 AM

There is an asterisk that you have to be at the right glide velocity, but yes: they'll have the same glide angle. The leaden one will just go significantly faster. And yes, it does sound unlikely. That's why I made my previous comment.

Here are a couple of many posts on the topic:

- https://gronskiy.com/posts/glide-ratio-lift-to-drag-and-weig...

- https://skybrary.aero/articles/glide-performance

show 1 reply
roelesyesterday at 12:50 PM

The same angle, but at different speeds. The speed is multiplied by the square root of the weight ratio (new/reference).

The minimum speed, at which the critical aoa is reached, increases. And therefore the take off and landing speeds.

rkomornyesterday at 2:48 PM

I don't get why this got some downvotes.

It does sound unlikely, and it's not like the comment is saying "no f'ing way!!" It's about as polite a way to say "that's weird" as anything.