not sure what your "golf ball" dimple theory is,, but in case u didnt see it, Myth Busters (Discovery Channel) actually ran a ridiculous experiemt where they covered a car in clay and dimpled it like a golf ball... it turned out to be more efficient than a regular car, even tho it had 800lbs of clay on it.
I wouldnt have believed it if i didnt see the episode,,and they too were in shock!
Class 3+ Instructor for PA28-140/151 @CYTZ
Moderators: sky's the limit, sepia, Sulako, Right Seat Captain, lilfssister, North Shore
Re: Class 3+ Instructor for PA28-140/151 @CYTZ
The dimples on golf balls (and the fuzz on tennis balls) de-stabilizes the boundary layer. The boundary layer therefore trips prematurely from laminar to turbulent flow. A turbulent boundary layer has more energy due to the mixing effect of the turbulence, and it can therefore follow the contour of a ball better -- resulting in later separation and a smaller wake, which in turn results in lower drag. It works really well for "bluff" bodies, life golf balls, since they suffer from a large amount of form drag. Streamlined bodies, like wings, have much more skin friction -- which is increased by the transition to a turbulent boundary layer -- and less form drag. As a result, they don't benefit from dimples. However, the delaying of separation can improve stalling angle as well as stall characteristics, which is the underlying principle of vortex generators.
