New Lofting

Apr 26, 2009 | Blog

The fuselage has been lofted (again.)  I think the term originates from boatbuilding, where the pattern for a new boat was first created in the sailmaker’s loft.  “Lofting” has a special meaning to an engineer because it is the process whereby lines on a plan are transformed into curves in three dimensions.

The net result for the Perlan is almost indistinguishable from the earlier design.  The fuselage is slightly thicker in the tail boom area and the horizontal tail is moved slightly.  However all of this has a significant effect on the 3D intersections of the wings and tail, so this would be a gigantic change if we were working on a physical model such as a clay model.

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