(Peter Stickney) wrote:

"Gord Beaman" ) writes:

They certainly *looked* like they'd be very maneuverable with all
that anhedral...did they have some sort of computer controlled
autopilot to handle all the unstability that the high anhedral
would have given them?

No computers. The anhedral was there to reduce the stability of the
airplane. If They'd built it with a flat wing, it would have ended up
too stable, laterally.


Ok, thanks Peter...most fighters don't seem to have near the
amount of anhedral of the 104. Like the 'teens, most seem to be
pretty flat, what made the 104 so laterally stable as to require
it reduced so much?...or is that parameter (in a fighter) not as
effective as it would be in a heavier a/c? (I'd think that the
heavier an a/c was then the more a certain amount of anhedral
would destabilize it?)


--

-Gord.