Thanks PM. I've read several papers over the last few days, including GGs PhD thesis and others
, (BTW, where
is GG when you want him?) and understand the basics; it's the "why"s that I was after.
I understand what reflex is and does, and can see the "conventional tailplane; lower angle of incidence" explanation but can't see how this works when it's all in the same aerofoil.
BTW, I thought I'd read that lack of reflex could lead to an irrecoverable luffing dive but that tumble was caused by momentum and the inherent control limitations of the bar passing through the triangular structure.
Also, I'm totally happy with washout giving pitch stability for swept-wing tailless deltas; it's the concept of pendulum stability when the mass is suspended on a pivot that I'm finding difficult to accept.
Finally, it's the sequence of events for turning that I don't yet understand. Here's my best attempt: pilot displaces weight to one side, because of the relative masses of trike/wing this causes the wing to slightly bank to the same side, gravity now allows the mass of the trike to move the keel to the same side (compared to the leading edges, permitted by the floating cross-tube), this results in less tension in the sail fabric on the "down" side, so this billows and decreases the effective angle of attack of that half of the wing (the opposite on the "up" wing) and this gives the "servo" system. The luff lines running over the king post amplify this effect.
Is this a correct sequence?
HFD