Avoiding Vne

Jon Meyer wrote:

Yes, as has already been mentioned the ASW20 has a
problem, where exceeding Vd can result in wing twist
that results in a terminal dive even with the stick
fully back.

It was not at Vd but at 200 kts ! (if I remember well VNE is 145 kts in
an ASW 20)

Not to mention what flutter can do anyway.

Flutter is the likeliest cause of failure at 200 kt (40% above VNE !!!).

Don't seek any other cause even if someone reported you that he
remembered someone has told him that ;-)

In most modern gliders you should be able to pull
6g+ without breaking any bits
off them.

Not at VNE !!!


Yes, I think Ed is probably right.

See my previous post about the NSTB report that demonstrate that the
Nimbus 4 will break between 5 and 6 g (like I suppose any other
non-aerobatic glider)

angle of the wing will limit the maximum g you can
pull below VNE. It will be pretty high, but is unlikely
to be more than 10g,

again, 15 g at VNE, 20 g at design speed (three time more than the wing
can support without breaking !).

To be honest if it was a choice between
flutter, where bits like ailerons and elevator might
come off, and exceeding the G-limits where the wing
might be a write off but the plane will remain flyable
and be safe to land (or at least bail out of), I know
which I would choose.

Neither choice is good. Your choice belongs to you. But don't let other
pilots think that exceeding G-limits "is not good, but I can do it from
time to time". Please don't play with /their/ lives.

Ask an aerobatic pilot if you don't want to take my
word for it,

Aerobatic gliders have a much higher allowed G-loads (the physiological
limits of most pilots are below those of the glider).

And the question was about open-class gliders. Did you see many
open-class aerobatic gliders ?

Hope this in some way helps, though I think I am just
re-iterating what a lot of other people have already
said.

Unfortunately yes, many people think like you (that the gliders are much
stronger that what is written in the manual, don't worry until 10 G,
etc.). That was perhaps true with older, low-span gliders (because the
design was less accurate than today and the margins greater). But it's
definitely *not* true.

--
Denis

R. Parce que ça rompt le cours normal de la conversation !!!
Q. Pourquoi ne faut-il pas répondre au-dessus de la question ?