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Design parameters

Every control in the Design group, what it means, and what it does to the wing. Each parameter page has an effects table: nudge the parameter up or down and see what moves.

How to read the effects tables

Each table has two columns, Increase and Decrease, and three rows by order of effect:

1st order: shape. What the change does to the wing's geometry directly: area, span, aspect ratio, mean chord.
2nd order: performance. What that shape change does in the water: lift-off speed, best glide (L/D), maximum lift, span efficiency.
3rd order: structure and build. What the load change does to the part: root bending moment, skin stress, tip flex, divergence speed (how fast before the wing twists itself apart), and the plies Auto-size asks for.

A fourth row shows WingHopper's pump, carve and glide scores (0 to 10) before and after.

To run the same moves on your own wing, open Analysis > Tune in the designer. Pick a goal (lift off earlier, glide further, pump easier, carve tighter, stiffer) and it lists the moves that help most on the wing you have open, what each one costs elsewhere, and applies the one you pick.

The numbers are measured, not written by hand: each parameter is nudged on the wing the designer opens with, at 85 kg all-up in seawater with the Carbon standard laminate, and run through the same models the Analysis tabs use. Other wings move by different amounts. Changes under 0.5% are left out.

Glossary

Term	Meaning
Root	The middle of the wing, halfway between the wingtips
Tip	The outboard end of each half of the wing
LE	Leading edge: the front edge of the wing
TE	Trailing edge: the back edge of the wing
Chord	Distance from leading edge to trailing edge at one spanwise station
Span	Tip-to-tip width of the wing
Half-span	Root to one tip
Planform	The wing seen from above
Area	Planform area, in cm². A wing's number is usually its area
Aspect ratio (AR)	Span² / area: long and slender is high, short and wide is low
MAC	Mean aerodynamic chord: the chord of the equivalent rectangular wing
Sweep	How far the tip's leading edge sits behind the root's
Dihedral	Wingtips above the wing root
Anhedral	Wingtips below the wing root
Twist	Each section's pitch angle along the span
Washout	Twist that lowers the tip's angle relative to the root
AoA	Angle of attack: the angle between the section and the oncoming flow
t/c	Section thickness as a fraction of chord
L/D	Lift over drag: glide ratio

Where each parameter lives

Parameter	Tab	Page
Leading edge, trailing edge and dihedral curves	Curves	Curves
Span, chord, root chord, tip chord, sweep, TE thickness	Size	Size
Area, span or aspect ratio targets	Scaling (over the viewport)	Size
Twist distribution	Twist	Twist
Rounded wingtip, tip outline, tip dihedral	Wingtip	Wingtip
Foil sections along the span	Sections	Sections

Next: Curves