Re: Aspect ratio and screaming dromies

["Jaime A. Headden" <qilongia@yahoo.com>]

Jim Cunningham (jrccea@bellsouth.net) wrote:

<Aren't these two different things?  Should we use the same word to refer
to both without some additional clarification?  Particularly since in
flight mechanics, the phrase 'aspect ratio' has a very precise meaning
that isn't directly related to the general shape of the wing.  By that, I
mean that a pelican-like wing and a pointed-tip wing have a very different
shape, but can have exactly the same aspect ratio (though it is true that
the pointed-tip wing will usually have the greater aspect ratio).>

  When I was using aspect ratio, this was largely in use of the relative
low 5.77 ratio of *M. gui* in relation to body size, as in
*Archaeopteryx*. Then I used it to refer to the size of the wings in
relation to body mass in eagles and swans, but do not consider shape to be
a part of this. That was a separate consideration.

  Cheers,

=====
Jaime A. Headden

  Little steps are often the hardest to take.  We are too used to making leaps 
in the face of adversity, that a simple skip is so hard to do.  We should all 
learn to walk soft, walk small, see the world around us rather than zoom by it.

"Innocent, unbiased observation is a myth." --- P.B. Medawar (1969)

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