Andy Lamborn
I'm New Here
Surfing the internet the other day I found this posting:
"I never completed the RV 4 I was building, so I can't tell you if the rudder
would have fluttered at 260 MPH. I came close to that speed doing aerobatics
in one that a friend owned, but I wouldn't recommend approaching that speed
in one. Also, because of all the structural failures in RV's I never felt
comfortable in one. Second to RV structural failures are Lancairs. I have
never heard of a structural failure in any Glasair."
Here's the link for anyone interested: http://www.matronics.com/digest/glasair-list/Digest.Glasair-List.2007-07-14.txt
This writer's comments contradict the impression I've gotten which is that RV's have a fairly enviable reputation for structural integrity, not withstanding the RV-8 and RV-3 incidents.
He was building an RV-4, though I don't think his comments were type-specific. Have there been any failures in -4's? I haven't heard of any (I've heard of somebody bending the horizontal stab doing acro over gross).
Intuitively (maybe not correctly or rationally) I'm inclined to trust metal structures more than composite ones (I hope that comment doesn't cause a rash of hate mail......), particularly over long periods of time.
I'd like to hear others' views on the structural integrity issue.
Andy
"I never completed the RV 4 I was building, so I can't tell you if the rudder
would have fluttered at 260 MPH. I came close to that speed doing aerobatics
in one that a friend owned, but I wouldn't recommend approaching that speed
in one. Also, because of all the structural failures in RV's I never felt
comfortable in one. Second to RV structural failures are Lancairs. I have
never heard of a structural failure in any Glasair."
Here's the link for anyone interested: http://www.matronics.com/digest/glasair-list/Digest.Glasair-List.2007-07-14.txt
This writer's comments contradict the impression I've gotten which is that RV's have a fairly enviable reputation for structural integrity, not withstanding the RV-8 and RV-3 incidents.
He was building an RV-4, though I don't think his comments were type-specific. Have there been any failures in -4's? I haven't heard of any (I've heard of somebody bending the horizontal stab doing acro over gross).
Intuitively (maybe not correctly or rationally) I'm inclined to trust metal structures more than composite ones (I hope that comment doesn't cause a rash of hate mail......), particularly over long periods of time.
I'd like to hear others' views on the structural integrity issue.
Andy