The ventus 3 sure has the biggest dihedral. It looks like it's pulling 3g turns even on the ground. I wonder what it looks like when it is pulling 3g.
It makes me wonder how the span is worked out for the classes. Is it the shortest bit of string between the two tips, or is it from lying the string along the wing. Is a curved wing a way of getting a bit more length of wetted wing, i.e. a slight advantage for any given class (nominal span)? If it is I guess we'll see more aircraft like it.
The tech of all of those on the grid: (JS1s, ASG-29s also) is pretty amazing. You would not turn your nose up at any of them. Top speed of 111kph with a 19Kt wind, and cloud-base that looked around 3k' seems quick to me. The top 4 finishers were over 100kph and the slowest finisher over 78kph.
Trying to read a bit more about wing shape has lead me via rec.aviation.soaring group to an article by Dick Johnson on side-slip in turns. I have heard several people say about a side-slip in turns is a good thing (unless you have winglets), but this explanation makes me want to experiment more... The notes about the string would show a slip around 5ยบ when you're flying true... as it is forward of C of G.
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