A tumblewing or "tumble wing" or "tumbling wing" is a glider or kite wing design which rotates about an axis transverse to the apparent wind, not necessarily horizontal. Tumble wings are frequently employed in wind turbines (such as the Savonius design), and are also used in some types of

confetti Confetti are small pieces or streamers of paper, mylar, or metallic material which are usually thrown at celebrations, especially parades and weddings. The origins are from the Latin ''confectum'', with ''confetti'' the plural of Italian ''co ...

. Tumble wings may be made of any material that supports some stiffness for form, such as paper, plastic, metal, composites or wood. Many leaves falling from trees become tumble wing gliders. Tumbling wings generate lift by alternately flying and stalling as the

angle of incidence Angle of incidence is a measure of deviation of something from "straight on" and may refer to: * Angle of incidence (aerodynamics), angle between a wing chord and the longitudinal axis, as distinct from angle of attack In fluid dynamics, ang ...

changes with the spinning motion (see

magnus effect The Magnus effect is an observable phenomenon commonly associated with a spinning object moving through a fluid. The path of the spinning object is deflected in a manner not present when the object is not spinning. The deflection can be ex ...

and flettner rotor). Its mode of

flight Flight or flying is the process by which an object moves through a space without contacting any planetary surface, either within an atmosphere (i.e. air flight or aviation) or through the vacuum of outer space (i.e. spaceflight). This can b ...

is more akin to

than traditional

fixed-wing aircraft A fixed-wing aircraft is a heavier-than-air Aircraft, flying machine, such as an airplane, which is capable of flight using wings that generate Lift (force), lift caused by the aircraft's forward airspeed and the wing configuration, shape of ...

; however, several model

aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines. ...

, such as flettner airplanes, have been built with tumbling wings for

lift Lift or LIFT may refer to: Physical devices * Elevator, or lift, a device used for raising and lowering people or goods ** Paternoster lift, a type of lift using a continuous chain of cars which do not stop ** Patient lift, or Hoyer lift, mobile ...

. Tumble wings are employed as the wing of kite systems, a type of rotary kite, and many such patents exist. Because it has no need for ballast, the tumblewing design has a lower

wing loading In aerodynamics, wing loading is the total mass of an aircraft or flying animal divided by the area of its wing. The stalling speed of an aircraft in straight, level flight is partly determined by its wing loading. An aircraft or animal with a ...

and makes a good walkalong glider which is easy to make and fly.

References

External links

The Vortex I a Tumblewing Glider

The Paper Airplane Guy teaches how to make the Tumbling Wing

How to fly a tumblewing type glider

Video of Radio Controlled Airplane with tumbling wings

Video of Dihedral Magnus Effect Glider
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walkalong Glider Model aircraft

See also

References

External links