If you have an aircraft like the DHC6 twin otter or the SkyCourier (picture bellow which have a rectangular shape like fuselage) and then you have another aircraft with the exact same dimensions and fuselage total area but with the more common cylindrical shape, which aircraft would experience more turbulence or be more impacted by gusts/cross winds etc, the rectangular or the cylindrical fuselage?
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$\begingroup$ So basically you asking "for the exact same projected side area (and the same distribution of projected side area), does the flat-sided fuselage create more sideforce, when there is a crosswind component in the relative wind, than the rounded one?" A related question (or maybe a subset of the present question) would be would the airplane w/ the flat-sided fuselage need to use a larger bank angle while performing a wing-down cross-controlled sideslip style of crosswind correction on final approach w/ a crosswind, for the same airspeed and the same crosswind component. $\endgroup$– quiet flyerCommented Apr 28 at 13:09
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$\begingroup$ Here's a hint: google "electric 3-D model airplane"-- these do all kinds of extreme maneuvers including lots of "knife-edge" flying at low airspeed-- most of the designs have flat-sided fuselages. $\endgroup$– quiet flyerCommented Apr 28 at 13:12
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$\begingroup$ @quietflyer I don't understand what you are trying to say in the comment. Could post an answer to my question? (something that might be obvious for you, might take a little bit more to understand for others like me) $\endgroup$– GabeCommented Apr 28 at 23:53
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1 Answer
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A rectangular 3D shape will have a higher coefficient of drag than a cylindrical shape.
So, yes, it will be more sensitive to a change in relative wind.
However, using a "slab side" can allow for a smaller vertical stabilizer if excessive directional stability is encountered.
answered Apr 28 at 20:37