Ian... you are not hitting the ball "square on" but in a slice (across) the
desired flight path of the ball.. hence the hook or slice path of the ball..
instead of imparting an "over the top" spin, the ball is spinning off at an
angle, as in the earths axis is tilted..
roger on the dimples... mind froze up that late at night..
BT
"tango4" wrote in message
...
Speak for your own balls! Golf balls that is. Mine don't climb
progressively in a straight line ahead but they do swing impressivelly
left or right!
:-)
The divots are called dimples by the way!
Ian
"BTIZ" wrote in message
news:MKldd.32193$bk1.30147@fed1read05...
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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