Slab tailplanes
Gentlemen, Many thanks for taking the time to reply, much appreciated.
As an ex CFS QFI I am very familiar with the RAF explanation of mass balancing normal controls to prevent torsional and flexural flutter but cant remember anything about slab tailplane mass balancing and flutter.
The machine in question is a large scale MODEL of the BAe Hawk so IAS limit is around 175 k so C Of P movement with high Mach no. is not an issue. I have a mass of servo power to resist flutter (I guess at high a of A with forward C of P the servos are resisting movement of the tail rather than driving it). I have partly balanced the stab to minimise servo loads but the C of G is still well aft of the pivot axis. Question is, what is the best position of the Cof G to minimise possibilty of FLUTTER , should it be ON or AFT of the pivot axis ?
Yes I'm afraid I am the guy who wrote off a JP after ejecting after a false fire warning, only doing what my instructor told me to do though !
Regards, DG.