Canard (aeronautics)
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In aeronautics, canard (French for duck) is an airframe configuration of fixed-wing aircraft in which the tailplane is ahead of the main wing, rather than behind them as in conventional aircraft empennage.[1][2][3]
The earliest airplanes, such as the Wright Flyer and the Santos-Dumont 14-bis, due to their tail-first configuration were seen by observers to resemble a flying duck — hence the name.[4]
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[edit] Classes of canards
The canard wing exists in two classes: the control-canard and the lifting-canard.[5]
[edit] Control-canard
In the control-canard, most of the weight of the aircraft is carried by the main wing and the canard wing is used primarily for longitudinal control during maneuvering. A control-canard mostly operates at zero angle of attack. Combat aircraft that have the canard configuration typically have a control-canard. In combat aircraft, the canard is usually driven by a computerized flight control system.[5]
One benefit obtainable from a control-canard is avoidance of pitch-up. An all-moving canard capable of a significant nose-down deflection will protect against pitch-up. As a result, the aspect ratio and wing-sweep of the main wing can be optimized without having to guard against pitchup.[5]
[edit] Lifting-canard
In the lifting-canard, the weight of the aircraft is always shared between the main wing and the canard wing. A lifting-canard generates an upload, in contrast to a conventional aft-tail which mostly generates a download that must be counteracted by extra lift on the main wing. The lifting-canard configuration is therefore more efficient than a conventional aft-tail from the perspective of induced drag. The lift generated by the canard wing is significant, so in order to minimise induced drag on the canard, it is usually of higher aspect ratio and greater airfoil camber than a control-canard. [5]
With a lifting-canard, the main wing must be located further aft of the center of gravity range than with a conventional aft tail, and this increases the pitching moment caused by trailing-edge flaps. Aircraft with lifting canards cannot readily be designed with sophisticated trailing-edge flaps.[5]
[edit] Examples of canard aircraft
Aircraft that have employed this configuration include:
- AEA Silver Dart
- Atlas Cheetah
- B-1 Lancer (small canards help negotiate low-level flying)
- Beech Starship
- Berkut 360
- Chengdu J-9
- Chengdu J-10
- Concorde (small lifting canards)
- Cozy MK IV
- Dassault Rafale
- Eurofighter Typhoon
- Freedom Aviation Phoenix
- Grumman X-29A
- IAI Kfir
- IAI Lavi
- Kyūshū J7W1 Shinden
- MacCready Gossamer Albatross
- MacCready Gossamer Condor
- McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) F-15 S/MTD
- MiG-8 Utka
- Miles Libellula
- North American SM-64 Navaho
- North American X-10
- OMAC Laser 300
- Peterson 260SE (a Cessna 182 with an added canard for STOL operations)
- Piaggio P180 Avanti (3 surfaces aircraft with flapped canard for pitch trim)
- Pterodactyl Ascender
- Rockwell-MBB X-31
- Rutan Defiant
- Rutan Long-EZ
- Rutan VariEze
- Rutan VariViggen
- Rutan Voyager
- Santos-Dumont 14-bis
- Saab Viggen
- Saab Gripen
- Steve Wright Stagger-Ez
- Sukhoi Su-30 MKI
- Sukhoi Su-33
- Sukhoi Su-34
- Sukhoi Su-35
- Sukhoi Su-37
- Sukhoi Su-47
- Sukhoi T-4
- Tupolev Tu-144
- Velocity SE
- Velocity XL
- Wright Flyer
- XB-70 Valkyrie
- XP-55 Ascender
[edit] Gallery
 The first powered airplane, the Wright Flyer, used dual, vertically-stacked canards |
 Eurofighter Typhoon of the Royal Air Force displaying at the Farnborough Airshow, 2006 |
 Dassault Rafale, in service with the French Navy (Marine Nationale) and the French Air Force (Armée de l'Air) |
 Canards visible on a JAS 39 Gripen at the Farnborough Airshow |
 Grumman X-29, an experimental aircraft for forward swept wing research |
 The Rockwell-MBB X-31 Enhanced Fighter Maneuverability Demonstrator Aircraft |
 Canards (just behind the flight deck) on the XB-70 Valkyrie experimental bomber aircraft |
 Closeup of a Piaggio P180 Avanti's canards |
 The Beechcraft Starship Executive Transport |
 A Pterodactyl Ascender II+2 showing its canard control surface |
 Saab 37 Viggen of the Swedish Air Force |
[edit] References
- Daniel P. Raymer (1989). Aircraft Design: A Conceptual Approach. American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc., Washington, DC. ISBN 0-930403-51-7.
- R Wilkinson (2001). Aircraft Structures and Systems (2nd edition ed.). MechAero Publishing.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Crane, Dale: Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition, page 86. Aviation Supplies & Academics, 1997. ISBN 1-56027-287-2
- ^ Aviation Publishers Co. Limited, From the Ground Up, page 10 (27th revised edition) ISBN 09690054-9-0
- ^ Federal Aviation Administration (August 2008). "Title 14: Aeronautics and Space - PART 1—DEFINITIONS AND ABBREVIATIONS". http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr&sid=49436e70336dc8d8f1ab7b3d789254af&rgn=div8&view=text&node=14:1.0.1.1.1.0.1.1&idno=14. Retrieved on 2008-08-05.
- ^ www.velocitybuilder.com (undated). "What the heck is a 'Canard'?". http://www.velocitybuilder.com/about_canard_aircrafts.htm. Retrieved on 2008-09-13.
- ^ a b c d e Daniel P. Raymer, Aircraft Design: A Conceptual Approach, Section 4.5 - Tail geometry and arrangement
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Canard Aircraft |
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