Articles | Volume 11, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-11-195-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-11-195-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
16 Jan 2026
Research article |
| 16 Jan 2026
| 16 Jan 2026
Concurrent aerodynamic design of the wing and the turbines of airborne wind energy systems
Filippo Trevisi
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering, Politecnico di Milano, Via Ponzio, 34, 20133 Milano, Italy
Gianni Cassoni
Department of Aeronautical Technologies Engineering, Roma Tre University, Via della Vasca Navale, 79, 00146 Rome, Italy
Department of Aerospace Science and Technology, Politecnico di Milano, Via La Masa, 34, 20156 Milano, Italy
Mac Gaunaa
DTU Wind Energy, Frederiksborgvej 399, 4000 Roskilde, Denmark
Lorenzo Mario Fagiano
Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering, Politecnico di Milano, Via Ponzio, 34, 20133 Milano, Italy
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Short summary
This paper investigates the optimal aerodynamic design of the wing and the onboard turbines of the fly-gen airborne wind energy system aircraft, named wind plane here, with a novel comprehensive engineering aerodynamic model and with the vortex particle method. Placing the turbines at the wing tips, rotating them inboard downward with a low tip speed ratio, and using conventional efficient airfoils for the wing are found to be optimal for wind planes.
This paper investigates the optimal aerodynamic design of the wing and the onboard turbines of...
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