Unless you race you will have difficulty seeing a difference. <snip> I don't believe it makes any measurable difference but if you do enough of these minor mods that have to help you will eventually pick up a knot.
Bob Axsom
Kevin,
I think Bob is right. Minimal gain from individual taped gaps and holes. Put all the taped gaps, holes and seams together, and you might see some measurable gain. The ball of wadded up tape I pull off after a race is about twice the size of a grapefruit. I just wish I was as smart as Bob and went to Wall-Mart, instead of buying the good 3M stuff on Amazon! Of course my tape
is color coordinated!
I do leave the tie down rings in the flight bag until I need to tie it down, but if I'm not racing, I don't cover the holes with tape or fill them with another bolt (FWIW). Easier to button up the plane upon arrival that way, and no one has ever gasped at those holes in the bottom of my wing. Heck, sometimes I have to look to find them to put the rings in!
Just sayin...
If you just want to make a nice finish piece for your baby for this application...understand! If you come up with a Darryl Reilly-esque cool fill-the-hole-bolt, it would be fun to see it!
Now, on a more serious (ahem) note...
These issues, like taping vs. bolting tiedown holes, are readily resolved ... <snip>
all times 1.01 for LED lights and, finally, 1.02 for taildragger configuration.
Mike,
Great stuff...clever! Lots more where that came from, eh! Hey, can you present this to my fellow racers. If we get them thinking about all this, perhaps they will forget about all those speed mods. Let's start with F1Boss and the Rocket boys, OK!
Only two questions on your calculations:
1. What effect (if any) does the color of the LED have on your 1.01 multiplier?
2. Is that 1.02
with or
without a tailwheel fairing?
Still laughing!
Cheers,
Bob