I knew I could catch a smart fish with that bait. Thanks! I try not to fly around too much at 60 knots but cruise more in the summer months around 85+ knots...I said try.

Please check my math and reasoning on this: I went to an online calculator and it said 85 knots at 15k alt is ~24.4 lbs/sq ft. Therefore, about 2.5 lbs of drag. Looking at the polar of a 27 at 85 knots, you are about 39/1 at that weight and speed...I think. So you would then be 36.5/1 with one camera or a drop in performance of around 6.5%.

I was seriously considering a camera on the tail and one on the wing. If both together add up to at 13% penalty, that is pretty harsh to impose upon yourself when attempting longer 750km - 1000km flights. If these calcs are correct, looks like the external cameras will be for the soft weather local flying days only.

Thanks!
Bruno - B4



Very roughly: at 48:1 flying at 1000 lbs, total drag is 20.8 lbs. At 60 knots, dynamic pressure is 12.2 lbs/sq ft. Camera is roughly .1 sq ft, adding 1.2 lbs drag, increasing your total to 22 and reducing L/D to 45.5. That is probably pretty worst case (drag coefficient probably less than 1, not in free stream, etc.). A tiny bit of streamlining on it could improve that a great deal I would think.