Board Thread:Off Topic/@comment-26397825-20170714130723/@comment-25936766-20170724203339

Phantomlink959 wrote:

All you need to glide is enough surface area for a good wind to negate the weight, and something to push you; that is literally how airplanes fly. It is not so simple as just "wide surface, insta-great gliding", Phantom. If you grab a large, flat board of steel, and try to glide, you'll plummet to the ground unless you can somehow get enough lifting to at least fall at a non-lethal speed. Which in Remnant could be provided with Dust, but it'd use up too much just to reach effectiveness.

Fixed-wing aircraft - which I assume is what the "Axe Glider" would be more like - has different means to stay airborne. In general, they use the forward movement of their wings in the air to generate lift. Some use the moving air to gain height, but powered aircraft only need their engines to gain forward thrust and thus lift. In both cases they also have things like momentum to help them out.

In both cases the shape of their wings is important, since it has great influence in the lift and the drag. And most, if not all, of the airfoils used by aircraft wouldn't be good for an axe blade.

Materials are also a factor. The sailcloths many gliders use help a lot since they aren't heavy (and prior to engine-powered aircraft, was practically required), but they would be useless for an axe. Aluminium alloys are lighter than Steel, but I doubt the Academies would just gift stuff like aluminium to every single random joe who attends them.

Aluminium also has no endurance limit compared to Steel, though I'm not sure if it would really hurt the performance in Axe form.

There's also falling speed. The more weight, the more terminal velocity, for starters. And then there's all the other physical factors involved in aerodynamics.

Overall, an Axe Glider that glides just from being flat, like you say, is impossible. Or better said, one that can glide decently instead of just slowing your fall a bit, is impossible. Aerodynamics are not some simple shit, and that is why it took that long for humanity to go from kites to airplanes.

A good Axe Glider, that is both a good axe and a good glider, could only be such if it's a rocket axe or something similar, since the engine would provide the forward push to obtain the lifting. But then, why wouldn't the user just use a jetpack instead?

If it's not a rocket axe or something similar, it would just plummet down. It wouldn't be a good glider or a good axe, since the things that favor one thing are unfavourable to the other.

If you are so sure you can fly or glide with a simple flat chunk of metal though, just like that, you are free to try. Just grab a steel board and throw yourself off a hill, see if it helps. If it does you can then boast about it.