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Anhedral angle

Why do some aircraft have drooping (anhedral) wings? · Standard part · basis: Design rules and figures from the cited sources; example geometry by Xem Studio

Also called: anhedral, anhedral wing, negative dihedral, cathedral wing, anhedral vs dihedral, why anhedral fighter, anhedral high wing, drooped wings aircraft, anhedral rc

Exact dimensions. True size, with no printing tolerance added.

sizes
3 in table

Notes

  • Anhedral (tips below root) reduces roll stability; it is used on swept and high-wing designs that already have too much stable dihedral effect, and on fighters for roll rate (ERAU; NASA Glenn).
  • Jets like the Harrier, Jaguar and Alpha Jet combine high wings, sweep and anhedral to get a small stable net effect; on a straight-wing light airplane anhedral 'will almost undoubtedly' make it laterally unstable (Kitplanes).
  • On ground-effect craft anhedral tips trap a high-pressure air tunnel; a reverse-delta study chose 15 deg anhedral (Frontiers 2022 review).
  • Used on: C-5 Galaxy, Harrier, SEPECAT Jaguar, Alpha Jet, Wright 1903 Flyer.
  • The file is a reference example built by Xem Studio from the numbers above. Sizes the sources do not fix are illustrative; scale the example to your own vehicle.

Anhedral angle size chart

parametervalue or rangesource
Wright 1903 Flyerslight anhedralNASA Glenn
WIG reverse-delta studyanhedral 8-45 deg tested; 15 deg selectedFrontiers 2022 review
Reference buildhigh swept wing, -3 degillustrative

Where the files are

Other publishers' files are linked, not hosted. "verify" = check the license at the link before commercial use.

Embry-Riddle (Leishman), Introduction to Aerospace Flight VehiclesWing Shapes and NomenclaturewebPublisher's page; dimensions are facts
NASA Glenn Research CenterBeginner's Guide to Aeronautics: Wing GeometrywebPublisher's page; dimensions are facts
Kitplanes (B. Wainfan)Wind Tunnel: Roll's role in lateral stability (2008)webPublisher's page; dimensions are facts
Frontiers in Aerospace Engineering (2022)Review of ground-effect experiments on rectangular, reverse-delta and delta wingswebPublisher's page; dimensions are facts

Free files

★ Free files 1 parts. Xem Studio design: free to use, print and sell things from; not to be republished as files. Xem Studio Design License. index.json

anhedral-wingswept planform: span 1000, root 250, tip 120 mm, LE sweep 30°, dihedral -3°, NACA 2412STEP · STL
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Plain text: sheet.txt · JSON: /api/geometry?object=anhedral

Anhedral angle, isometric render of a generated part
Render of anhedral-wing from the free STEP; not to scale.

Fits with

Rectangular (constant-chord) wing, isometric render of a generated part
Rectangular (constant-chord) wing6 sizes★ 1 file
Tapered wing (taper ratio for minimum induced drag), isometric render of a generated part
Tapered wing (taper ratio for minimum induced drag)6 sizes★ 1 file
Elliptical wing, isometric render of a generated part
Elliptical wing5 sizes★ 1 file
Swept-back wing, isometric render of a generated part
Swept-back wing4 sizes★ 1 file
Forward-swept wing, isometric render of a generated part
Forward-swept wing4 sizes★ 1 file
Delta wing, isometric render of a generated part
Delta wing5 sizes★ 1 file

Questions

Should a straight-wing RC plane have anhedral?

No; it will almost certainly be laterally unstable (Kitplanes).