PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - BREAKING NEWS: airliner missing within Egyptian FIR
Old 4th Nov 2015, 13:14
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Double Back
 
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Netherlands
Age: 71
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shedding one's stab

During my professional airline flying career(B744) I kept on model flying, which has always been a great source for information, training reflexes and understanding aerodynamics. Both good and bad experiences helped me in flying full size. For some bad experiences I was lucky not to encounter full size.

Recently I have lost a (model) twin boom (turbine) jetplane due to flutter, causing the stab to separate completely. It happened at around 10-15m of altitude, flying in a shallow dive.
The sequence of the ensuing breakup went so fast, I and another professional airline pilot could not recall what exactly had happened. So fast, even to exclaim SH.. . That word came when all was already on terra firma....

The fuse was constructed of GFRP, stab and wings were built up balsa structures.
Is was a sudden bang and a cloud of balsa coming down, bigger debris tumbling down along the track.
From the debris path (stab found first) we could piece together that when the stab shed, the forward fuse and wings rotated 90 degrees down at full speed (200+ kmh), in a split second, causing the wings to be stripped of most of the covering and ribs, because of the enormous air loads.
The tank (some 5 litres) was catapulted through the topside of the fuse and was at the end of the trail. It was hardly damaged, still containing nearly all the fuel. Somewhere before that the engine was retrieved.
The "negative" G forces on the model must have been incredible.

I have thought a long time about this and started searching. I found a comparable, be it a tragic full size example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nq77TMHzYXA

When the stab sheds, the nose of the Invader dives so quickly, that the wings develop an extreme negative load, clearly visible. Before they actually have time to break, the Invader hits the ground, killing all aboard.
This example may be slightly different, in that the explosion must have contributed in lifting the tail.

IF this Airbus did loose its complete stab in one go, for whatever reason, the ensuing negative loads must have rendered the pilots immediately incapable of any action.
In a very early phase the fuse must have broken up, wings plus a small part of the fuse tumbling down, engines "flying" on.
As far as I can see most parts hit with little horizontal speed.
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