Very interesting. I had come to believe that higher aspect ratio gliders would have had a much flatter curve, especially to the left of (slower than) min sink speed than how this appears. I suppose we're only talking about sink increases of 12-18% prior to stall vs. the near 100% gain at top speed, so maybe it''s a matter of presentation. Tighter Y axis or wider X axis spacing would give the curve a flatter appearance. I'd like to see polar curve comparisons made between commonly available production gliders. As a primarily PPG pilot, I still wrestle with glide path adjustment accuracy and suffer hugely inconsistent results, while relying primarily on speed control as the tool to control glide path. Of course maneuvering and power manipulation, discount the purist pursuit of solely using polar data too far beyond theory anyhow.
Very interesting. I had come to believe that higher aspect ratio gliders would have had a much flatter curve, especially to the left of (slower than) min sink speed than how this appears. I suppose we're only talking about sink increases of 12-18% prior to stall vs. the near 100% gain at top speed, so maybe it''s a matter of presentation. Tighter Y axis or wider X axis spacing would give the curve a flatter appearance. I'd like to see polar curve comparisons made between commonly available production gliders. As a primarily PPG pilot, I still wrestle with glide path adjustment accuracy and suffer hugely inconsistent results, while relying primarily on speed control as the tool to control glide path. Of course maneuvering and power manipulation, discount the purist pursuit of solely using polar data too far beyond theory anyhow.