I'd really prefer to ride in a US- built plane, anyway. The Europeans (no
offense intended) still haven't figured out how to do air conditioning
properly-- Airbus included. Sweltering in the cabin of an Airbus on the
ground in Phoenix in not a fun way to spend a summer afternoon.
All in all, why US airlines buy foreign- made aircraft is beyond me. If
we're not careful, our US aircraft manufacturing base will be gone, just
like happened to many other US industries. Is it a matter of saving a few $
or is it question of performance that is not available from a domestic
supplier? Any ideas?
Regards, Neil Tucson, AZ
-----Original Message-----
From: Nt788@aol.com [mailto:Nt788@aol.com]
Sent: Monday, November 26, 2001 10:41 AM
To: land-speed@autox.team.net
Subject: Fwd: (no subject)
Date: Sun, 25 Nov 2001 14:30:48 -0800
From: Carol & Don Schwartz <nfox4473@pacbell.net>
Subject: (no subject)
To: Art Stetler <StetlerA@aol.com>
Message-id: <3C017117.476D578C@pacbell.net>
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Subject: A300 crash
>>
> A friend sent this. Gary has dedicated his life to aerodynamics. He
>invented the Wheeler Vortex generator, and the "Gurney" wing on race
cars.>These are his views on>the crashed Airbus.)
>
> Howdy,
>
> Re: the New York 11-12-2001 Airbus crash.
>
> I found this photo of the vertical stabilizer's failed composite
> attachment blades, or webs. The bolts that attached the composite
vertical>stabilizer to the fuselage, remain properly attached. Clearly,
the failure>is a>delamination of the composite vertical tail, above the
points of attachment>to the fuselage.
>
> There are reasons (despite the weight savings) why Douglas Aircraft
and>Boeing have never used composites this way -- and you're looking at
one.>
> As the delamination of the composite progressed, the entire 37-ft.
tall
>vertical tail would have fluttered briefly & violently. That would
explain>why both engines were literally shaken off the airplane. (This
is
>particularly remarkable, because unlike Douglas and Boeing, Airbus
has>bragged of purposely designing their engine mounting pylons to keep
the>engines in place no matter what!) One wing tip was found several
blocks>away from the main wreckage.
>
> BTW, you'll be hearing a lot about an encounter with wake
turbulence.>
> That is a red herring. Wake turbulence can make it difficult --
maybe>even impossible to control the airplane -- but no amount of wake
turbulence>can remove the vertical tail at such low flight speeds unless
there is a>preexisting>structural fault.
>
> What is flutter? This morning, I got an email from a friend who is
the>Director of Structural Engineering of a major American aircraft
maker.
>
> He described a chilling picture: "Flutter modes often have an
> explosively quick onset, rising from nothing to catastrophic in the
> blink of>an>eye.
>
> Furthermore, the shaking can happen so fast that, despite the large
>(huge) deflections involved, an observer on the ground might not see
it. It's> just a blur.
>
> "The people in the back of the airplane would have been shaken
>senseless worse as the seats tore loose and everything was homogenized
back>there; but it was all over a few seconds later."
>
> The design weakness can and will be fixed on other Airbuses. If
not,> there are plenty of nice Boeing jetliners mothballed in the
Mojave Desert,>that can trade places with the Airbuses. In the
meantime, I'm not riding>Airbus.
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