Article on Deturbulator Tape

[j...@oxaero.com]

I have just posted an article (in PDF format) on the Deturbulator Tape modification to a Standard Cirrus wing. This is not about the Sinha Deturbulator Panel, just the tape that provides a very small rear-facing step near the leading edge of the wing.

These small rear-facing steps alone are responsible for most of the extraordinary performance I have been measuring since 2003 and Dick Johnson confirmed in 2006.

Recent measurements indicate that the very high performance values and corresponding sensitivity and lack of consistency are due to the upper surface rear-facing step being located a little too close to the leading edge. I anticipate that moving it aft slightly will compromise some performance for consistency and lead to another useful performance improvement. Meanwhile, a lower surface only configuration appears to offer about 15% without messing up the polar.

The article gives an overview of the modification, installation instructions, measurements that led to this mod and a non-mathematical explanation of how it works, IMHO.

To read the article, go to http://www.deturbulator.org/TheDeturbulatorTape.pdf.

Jim Hendrix