Comment Re:shark skin (Score 5, Informative) 111
The gold standard for laminar flow aircraft is gliders. Modern gliders can achieve laminar flow up to 95% of chord on the bottom surface, and around 40% on the top surface. Any waviness across the direction of the airflow of more than
Modern gliders place a spanwise turbulator on the bottom surface to force the turbulent transition before a bubble forms, either by mechanical strips of blowing air from small holes fed by a NACA duct.
The air sees the bubble as though it were a bump on the the surface, with the associated drag penalty.
Laminar flow is assisted by the acceleration of the airflow from the stagnation point on the leading edge to the point of maximum thickness of the airfoil. When the flow starts to decelerate, laminar flow is easily lost.
Turbulent flow thereafter has increased drag known as scrubbing drag on the surface, and the friction between the surrounding air and the turbulent flow.
A simple way to look at it is view a wing from the front at a zero angle of attack. The part of the surface you can see can support laminar flow.
Placing chordwise grooves may help to promote laminar flow a bit further, however surface contaminants will quickly render any gains moot. The flow is so easily disturbed that Splattered bugs on the leading edge can rob up to 30% of the drag reduction, so those same gliders have mechanical bug wipers that can clean the leading edge in flight.
Composite wings have a much better chance of laminar flow, in practice metal wing in service required frequent resurfacing to maintain laminar flow. Those with rivets, suck as the much vaunted P51 laminar wing rarely achieved laminar flow to any great extent doe to surface imperfections.
Further info and diagrams here: https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Feaglepubs.erau.edu%2Fint...