Camber Analysis

In the camber analysis applet, you'll be able to adjust the camber, or the thickness, of the airfoil. As you learned in the wings section, different types of cambers are more appropriate for different types of planes. For example, try creating a thin camber. An airfoil like this would be most appropriate for a high speed plane.

On the other hand, try raising the camber. An airfoil like this would be more appropriate for a large, low speed plane, which would require lots of lift.

Warning: This applet is computationally intensive. On most modern computers, the time it takes to update after you click is under one-tenth of a second, but on more outdated computers, it may take as much as five seconds. Please don't click again, thinking nothing happened, as the applet is recomputing the streamlines.

Instructions

When the applet loads, you will see an airfoil with many lines around it - the streamlines. The airfoil which appears by default is representative of a modern airfoil. To look at an airfoil representative of that on the Wright Brothers flier, click the "early" button. If you decide you'd prefer to go back to a more modern airfoil, click the "modern" button.

The line with two arrows pointing up and down is used to adjust the camber. Using the button on top, you can increase the camber. By clicking the bottom button, you will reduce the camber.