Just went through the process of logging in and getting back here, now what was it I wanted to say? Old age y'know. Shouldn't be allowed but I don't care much for the alternative.
Oh, yes. I think bendywings are affected by national history. During the thirties there were some wing failures on British projects, and people tried to make the wings much stronger, confusing this, as drawing offices will, with making them more rigid. Bristols ended up with the extremely rigid Pollicut wing that was used in everything, Bombay, Britain First, Blenheim, Beaufighter, Bolingbroke, Beaufort, Buckingham, Buckmaster, Brigand, Freighter, Wayfarer to name the ones that sprng readily to mind. Avros did much the same in the Vulcan, and I don't recall the Comet, Valiant or Victor being particularly flexible. It was Boeing, after a visit to Bristols, who had the bright idea of making the wing flex along its length whilst importantly maintaining its torsional rigidity, mostly, but allowing the big forward masses, aka engines, to twist the wing for gust alleviation, which was what Bristols were doing by a different method when they visited and saw the Brabazon alleviator, which so far as I know never worked in flight.
Last edited by mike-wsm; 7th Mar 2011 at 22:01.
Reason: add Bolingbroke