Search Results

Limit cycle oscillation is a fancy term for flutter with constant amplitude. The limit cycle is an attractor, meaning that the frequencies and amplitudes of a range of oscillations will converge to th …

Your reason 1 is correct. Without the ballast the aircraft would become a taildragger. Why not pallets? This would produce the same center of gravity location, but a different mass distribution. Clea …

The major difference is size. FAR part 25.801 defines them as: (1) Type I. This type is a floor-level exit with a rectangular opening of not less than 24 inches wide by 48 inches high, with corner ra …

Yes, absolutely. The skin transfers shear stresses between the stringers or longerons which run lengthwise along the fuselage and transmit tensile or compressive stress. Cutouts and openings (for door …

The reason for using glassfiber on radome coverings is simple: Electromagnetic transparency. Carbon fiber conducts electricity, so it will absorb much of what the antenna radiates away or "listens" fo …

I very much doubt that you will hit your mass target (kg is a unit of mass, btw) if you build those wings without a proper spar. The shell is for carrying shear loads to provide torsional stiffness, b …

The lift pins sit in a block of plywood which in turn fills the gap between the rib and the face of the wing skin, as can be seen in the photo. They go almost all the way into that plywood, so they ru …

Should composite ribs be made in the same way as metal ones? No Doing so would forfeit some of the benefits of composites, but certification authorities and their regulations might force you to. To …

Leading edge flaps are less efficient than trailing edge flaps. Efficiency here means the ratio of change of lift to change in flap angle. With every flap deflection, both camber and angle of attack o …

The most obvious way is to de-assemble the structure and look inside. This leaves the least amount of doubt. But there are many ways to do this without destruction. Ultrasonic: The echo of the ultr …

The forward location has two benefits: Wing upwash is smaller, so the flow direction at the intake varies less with speed and altitude. This makes the intake more efficient and requires less robustne …

Rectangular wings are easy to build: You need just one rib size and can repeat making it several times, using the same jig. Early airplanes needed a lot of manual assembly by semi-skilled workers, and …

For a homebuilt a static load test is required. Whereas a full certification would require a loading to 1.5 the maximum load, this factor is reduced for experimental aircraft to 1.0. But performed it …

Because most cargo aircraft are derived from passenger aircraft. All dedicated cargo designs have no extra floor: They carry the payload on the fuselage bottom structure. Comparison of transport ai …

There is indeed an Eigenmode possible on the Stratolaunch which does not exist on regular airplanes: If the two fuselages pitch in opposite direction, thereby twisting the center wing. If that happens …