PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - 787 First Flight - Signs of Trouble Ahead?
Old 17th Dec 2009, 15:39
  #20 (permalink)  
Rainboe
Warning Toxic!
Disgusted of Tunbridge
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Hampshire, UK
Posts: 4,011
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Can we get this straight? Are we talking about aileron 'droop' or 'upfloat'? Upfloat I can understand. But I do find it extraordinary that a correspondent thinks he has spotted design flaws from a company like Boeing on a maiden flight. Arrogance in misplaced self-confidence! He could have asked rather than approach the issue so negatively (and make a plonker of himself!).

Aileron upfloat would be expected on a very high aspect-ratio wing like this. The VC10 had it 45 years ago designed in, cutting in and out at 24,000' I remember, to alleviate mid span wing bending moment. I don't know if that was the first in a big jet. But Boeing are designing wings now optimised for high altitude, long range cruise, very long and slender and bendy! No wonder they bend so much. The 747-400 and 777 wings bend more than previous models like the 747 100-300, and even the 737-800/900 are very bendy. It's how they are now.
Rainboe is offline