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Newbie question
Completely daft newbie question that I'm hoping will have a simple
answer. Mention is frequently made of the term L/D, which I know is an abbreviation of Lift / Drag. For example, the L/D cited in an advert for a Ka6 recently was "L/d 33" If L/D is the Lift/Drag ratio, why are the figures accompanying it frequently not ratios? For instance, in the above, what is the "33"? Is L/D used as the best Lift/Drag ratio the glider in question can achieve? How does this translate in real terms? Does it describe the best glide speed, or relate to the glide ratio in any way? The glide ratio (eg. An ASH25 has a glide ratio of 60:1) seems a great way of describing certain aspects of the performance of a glider. Yet most the specifications I read describing gliders don't give this figure in quite such a straight forward way. Is this information somehow derived from other information given? Or is it too variable to generally provide as a generic statistic (eg. One ASH25 might have a 60:1 ratio, another less at 45:1)? Am I managing to make any sense, or am I completely confusing myself (in which case, no worries - more time, exposure and experience will eventually rattle all this out for me, I'm sure)? -- Bill Gribble /----------------------------------\ | http://www.cotswoldgliding.co.uk | | http://members.aol.com/annsweb | | http://www.shatteredkingdoms.org | \----------------------------------/ |
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