[HN Gopher] Laminar Flow Airfoil
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       Laminar Flow Airfoil
        
       Author : colinprince
       Score  : 25 points
       Date   : 2025-07-18 00:54 UTC (2 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.aviation-history.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.aviation-history.com)
        
       | upofadown wrote:
       | At my gliding club there is an older glider with a large toggle
       | switch on the panel. That switch is labeled "BUGS". Always amuses
       | me...
       | 
       | The "BUGS" switch is an input to whatever that glider uses for a
       | flight computer. A single bug splat disrupts the laminar flow and
       | significantly reduces the performance of the wing in that spot.
       | Enough splats and you have to let the flight computer know that
       | the performance of the glider has significantly decreased. In
       | practice that affects things like the final glide calculation.
       | Without the adjustment you might think you have gained enough
       | altitude to get back to the gliderport without having to climb
       | again, but you could end up a bit short.
        
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       (page generated 2025-07-20 23:01 UTC)