At 20:00 29 December 2004, Cliff Hilty wrote:
I was just wondering if anyone has
tried flight testing Sailplanes in a wind tunnel? Could
you 'hard point' it and measure weights or lack of
weight to get Polar info.

Hey Cliff,

A wind tunnel would allow you to measure lift and drag
forces directly at various speeds, angles of attack
and flap settings. From this you could generate a polar
for any weight. This would be the most accurate way
to generate a polar I believe because it is under lab
conditions with highly calibrated instrumentation.
Of course you'd need a big wind tunnel like the NASA
Ames 80'x120' low-speed tunnel. You can rent it out,
but I bet it's expensive. To cover all the speeds,
flap settings and weights you'd need several dozen
test points, which would require a few hours in the
tunnel.

http://windtunnels.arc.nasa.gov

9B