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In article ,
Robert Moore wrote: Orval Fairbairn wrote In the case of the firefighting plane, if it was flying level and dropped a large weight (slurry), the wings would have the same load, either with or without the dropped weight. Other airframe components, such as engine mounts, fixed equipment, crew, however, would experience a sudden increase in G loading. If the plane was flying at too high speed, sudden updrafts/gusts could overload the wings. Say What!! You may know what you are trying to say, but it sure didn't come out making sense. From Wikipedia: The g-force experienced by an object is its acceleration relative to free-fall. The term g-force is considered a misnomer, as g-force is not a force but an acceleration. You probably meant to say "wings would have the same LOAD FACTOR". Clearly, the load supported by the wing of a loaded aircraft is more than the wing loading of an empty aircraft even though both are experiencing only 1g. If the pilot doesn't reduce the angle of attack (amount of lift produced by the wing)as the load is dropped, the wing root will experience an increase in g-force. G-force is equal to the actual lift being produced by the wing (at that angle of attack and airspeed) divided by the weight being lifted. From a aerodynamic viewpoint, the smart thing to do would be to push- over (reduce the angle of attack) just as the fire retardant is released, thereby reducing the g-force on the wing root. This, however, tends to prevent the retardant from exiting the aircraft. What the pilots seem to be doing is pulling up AND turning at the point of drop and thereby making a bad situation even worse. Bob Moore It is a paradox here. Structurally, a wing really doesn't care WHAT the G-force is! All the structure is concerned about is the amount of stress on its components. A wing carrying, say 200K#, which suddenly drops 100K# will pull 2G, but the STRESS on the wings remains 200K#. Other components of the aircraft will experience 2G, but the wing's stresses remain the same. -- Remove _'s from email address to talk to me. |
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