Broken wing

Way back, I believe the first jet passenger jet was the Lockheed
Electra. The plane mysteriously fell out of the air and very thorough
search for a cause was instituted. In the end, again if I remember
correctly, the conclusion was that the wing spar failed from fatigue
because the wing was nutating, a slight circular motion due to
gyroscopic effects.

Maybe that's the same thing caused the FL seaplane crash.

Stubby wrote:
Way back, I believe the first jet passenger jet was the Lockheed
Electra. The plane mysteriously fell out of the air and very thorough
search for a cause was instituted. In the end, again if I remember
correctly, the conclusion was that the wing spar failed from fatigue
because the wing was nutating, a slight circular motion due to
gyroscopic effects.

To jog your memory:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_L-188_Electra

Maybe that's the same thing caused the FL seaplane crash.

The Electra problem happened pretty soon after they came out. Those
seaplanes have been around a long time.

Cheers, Kev

"Stubby" wrote in message
Way back, I believe the first jet passenger jet was the Lockheed
Electra. The plane mysteriously fell out of the air and very thorough
search for a cause was instituted. In the end, again if I remember
correctly, the conclusion was that the wing spar failed from fatigue
because the wing was nutating, a slight circular motion due to
gyroscopic effects.
Maybe that's the same thing caused the FL seaplane crash.

The Electra wasn't a jet, it was a turbopropeller. Furthermore, the
Electra's design flaw was discovered early in it's life cycle. Grumman
Mallards are a mature design of 70 years starting with the Goose.

D.

Stubby wrote:

Way back, I believe the first jet passenger jet was the Lockheed
Electra. The plane mysteriously fell out of the air and very thorough
search for a cause was instituted. In the end, again if I remember
correctly, the conclusion was that the wing spar failed from fatigue
because the wing was nutating, a slight circular motion due to
gyroscopic effects.

Maybe that's the same thing caused the FL seaplane crash.

Except the Electra wasn't a jet. Maybe you are thinking of the Comet.


Matt

Matt Whiting wrote

Except the Electra wasn't a jet. Maybe you are thinking of the
Comet.

Well...the Electras that I flew certainly had "jet" engines.
Even burned kerosene. :-)

Bob Moore

Hi I'm lonely, and I want my mommy...

I said the Electra is not a jet you pompous asshole...

Kev wrote:
Stubby wrote:

Way back, I believe the first jet passenger jet was the Lockheed
Electra. The plane mysteriously fell out of the air and very thorough
search for a cause was instituted. In the end, again if I remember
correctly, the conclusion was that the wing spar failed from fatigue
because the wing was nutating, a slight circular motion due to
gyroscopic effects.


To jog your memory:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_L-188_Electra

Excellent article! Thanks. That Electra (maybe there are others) was
a turboprop rather than a turbojet as I had assumed.

In article ,
Matt Whiting wrote:

Stubby wrote:

Way back, I believe the first jet passenger jet was the Lockheed
Electra. The plane mysteriously fell out of the air and very thorough
search for a cause was instituted. In the end, again if I remember
correctly, the conclusion was that the wing spar failed from fatigue
because the wing was nutating, a slight circular motion due to
gyroscopic effects.

Maybe that's the same thing caused the FL seaplane crash.

Except the Electra wasn't a jet. Maybe you are thinking of the Comet.

The Electra did, however, have a string of catastrophic early failures,
which were eventually traced to metal fatigue in the wing or fuselage
structure caused by a vibration or oscillation that occurred in flight
and was associated with the design of the plane; and the Comet had a
series of catastrophic early failures which were eventually traced to
metal fatigue and crack grown around the windows occurring after
multiple pressurization and depressurization cycles. Both were prime
examples of the learning process associated with civil aviation and
aviation technology.

Am I recalling this correctly?

Are you thinking the English Comet? It had several inflight mysterious
breakups before it was discovered that the square windows created
stress fractures after several pressurization cycles. I believe it was
the first pax airline.