Any Aircraft Engineers here?

[st_files]

To settle a debate.

Bearing in mind the average horse weighs 450ish kgs, how big would any wings attached to it (think Pegasus) have to be to provide the lift to get the horse in the air?

The common image of Pegasus has wings a couple of metres long which dont seem big enough.

[bertie]

Surely it depends how slow you want the horse to be able to fly?

Lift is dependent on airspeed.

[st_files]

So a horse can gallop up to what - 30-40mph? Allied with the flapping how much surface area would be required is my question....

[anonymous-user]

The wingspan would need to be 141m

[bertie]

el stovey said:

The wingspan would need to be 141m

You've just made that up!!

[st_files]

el stovey said:

The wingspan would need to be 141m

Its now on the internet, I win the argument. Thanks.

[anonymous-user]

bertie said:

el stovey said:

The wingspan would need to be 141m

You've just made that up!!

No I haven't.

It's quite a common aeronautical problem, trying to work out what size flapping wings you'd need for a horse.

[captainzep]

At last, a chance to 'breed' the 'winged horse of tat' thread with the 'plane on a conveyor belt' thread.

[tuffer]

How fast would it have to run in order to get airborne and would this differ if it was on a treadmill?

[Eric Mc]

Problem solved over 50 years ago

The Yakovlev Yak-24 Horse

[aspen]

I just did some rough calculations and based on speed of 40mph, sea level air density, Mass of 450kg and a lift coefficient of 1 (this is the big assumption, didn't cover flapping wings at uni) I got a wing area of 22.5m^2 so if you assume a big horse with a 0.75m average wing chord, you get just over 30m wingspan!

I think the speed would be greater because of the flapping motion though so could prob stick that up to about 60mph relative which makes the span around 20m. Seems reasonable

[taldo]

Eric Mc said:

Problem solved over 50 years ago

The Yakovlev Yak-24 Horse

i really quite like that!

[Los Palmas 7]

aspen said:

Seems reasonable

Seems reasonable? A horse with a 20 metre wingspan seems reasonable?

Can I have a toke on that, dude?

[aspen]

Los Palmas 7 said:

aspen said:

Seems reasonable

Seems reasonable? A horse with a 20 metre wingspan seems reasonable?

Can I have a toke on that, dude?

Perhaps a rewording is in order...

It seems a reasonable wingspan for something of that mass at that speed. A horse with any size of wings is a little disconcerting.

[Los Palmas 7]

aspen said:

Los Palmas 7 said:

aspen said:

Seems reasonable

Seems reasonable? A horse with a 20 metre wingspan seems reasonable?

Can I have a toke on that, dude?

Perhaps a rewording is in order...

It seems a reasonable wingspan for something of that mass at that speed. A horse with any size of wings is a little disconcerting.

True. For a start, you'd need a very wide horse-box.

[ukwill]

I think what we're missing here is the fact that Pegasus was the product of a dirty deed between Poseidon and Medusa. So, if you can believe in sea god's and snake-headed ugly bint's that can turn mere mortals to stone, how much more would it be to believe that their son, a horse (what else?) could fly?

[Los Palmas 7]

ukwill said:

I think what we're missing here is the fact that Pegasus was the product of a dirty deed between Poseidon and Medusa. So, if you can believe in sea god's and snake-headed ugly bint's that can turn mere mortals to stone, how much more would it be to believe that their son, a horse (what else?) could fly?

Yes, but if the Pegasus flew too close to the sun, his wings would melt.

[ukwill]

Los Palmas 7 said:

ukwill said:

I think what we're missing here is the fact that Pegasus was the product of a dirty deed between Poseidon and Medusa. So, if you can believe in sea god's and snake-headed ugly bint's that can turn mere mortals to stone, how much more would it be to believe that their son, a horse (what else?) could fly?

Yes, but if the Pegasus flew too close to the sun, his wings would melt.

That was Icarus. Clearly he believed in Pegasus as he wanted a piece of the sky as well.

[Los Palmas 7]

ukwill said:

That was Icarus.

Now you're being silly - that was "Die Another Day", the "layzer" that nearly fried Pierce Bronson.

[ukwill]

Los Palmas 7 said:

ukwill said:

That was Icarus.

Now you're being silly - that was "Die Another Day", the "layzer" that nearly fried Pierce Bronson.

You're right. My bad - to coin yet another irritating Americanism.