In article ,
(A Canuck) wrote:

If one was to be asked to design an UltraLight that would be able to
fly on Mars, what would have to change?

Would the wingspan have to change significantly?
The atmosphere is thin, but the gravity is less.

The atmosphere is similar to Earth's atmosphere at 100,000 ft. The
lower gravity will help a bit, but not nearly enough to make up for that.

Steve Fossett is currently trying take a standard sailplane to 60,000 ft
(49,000 is the current record), and will later build a custom one
intended to go to 100,000 ft.

The problem with flying at that density is that you have to fly nearly
ten times faster than at sea level on Earth and so need big wings and a
"low" stall speed (well under 40 knots IAS) in order to not run into
problems with Mach effects.

I don't think a prop will be useful -- you'll need a jet.


Get the X-Plane simulator. It has a Mars simulation, and several
aircraft designed to fly on Mars, plus you can design your own. X-Plane
is cheap enough to be a toy, but is good enough that several real-world
aircraft companies use it for trying out new designs and training pilots
to fly them.

-- Bruce