Have not seen such an aircraft.. but the principle of the "magnus effect"
can be seen in the flight path of a golf ball... ever watch a golf ball when
first hit.. start out low and then increase the climb rate before arcing
over ?.. I'm not talking about a golf ball hit with a pitching wedge... but
hit with the driver.. the spin imparted is the same as the rotating cylinder
described.. creating "lift" over the top of the ball... and yes.. all those
little divots in the ball (I forget what they are called) adds to the
lifting effect.

BT

"COLIN LAMB" wrote in message
nk.net...
If a wing is replaced by a rotating cylinder, with the forward surface
rotating upward, lift will be produced. The local air velocity is high on
top and low on the bottom. This upward force is known as magnus effect.

The information above comes from my helicopter handbook. The theory is
used
to explain some helicopter principles, but caused me to wonder more about
it. Has anyone every produced an airplane using the magnus effect? If
the
cylinder is rotating faster, I would expect that lift would be increased.
Does anyone know if there have been any writings and/or test aircraft?
Not
much use with a glider, for obvious reasons - but the answer would make me
a
bit smarter. I was not able to find much on the internet.

Thanks, Colin N12HS


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