Adjusting your wing loading »
Zach Hazen «hazenz» writes:
An explanation here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wing_loading#Effect_on_takeoff_and_landing_speeds
The point is you'd have to quadruple your wing loading to double your cruise/stall/sink speeds for a given angle of attack or trim point. In a flex wing heavier pilots cause more washout of everything and affect the trim point, so its common to move the hang point forward for the larger pilots if the glider trims too slow.
Here's a table I threw together with the basic equation for flight speed (could be stall, cruise, sink rate in this case). I assumed a 175 lb pilot with 25 lbs of gear on a 75 lb wing that normally gets a 200 fpm min sink rate and stalls at 20 mph. If this pilot added 14 lbs of weight (equipment, ballast, body weight) he would theoretically only see another 5 fpm in sink rate, and negligible change in his stall speed. His best glide speed would go up by the same factor, which would be an advantage on strong days - exactly what the ballast carrying is all about. No change in L/D really, just everything is sped up.
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