Can wings snap off if empty?
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I take the point about refuelling, or airdrop missions.
I thought the OP was asking if this applied to all cargo, and possibly PAX config.
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So if I understood that right. If you do not drop a load from fuselage you have to keep fuel in wings?
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Thanks for the kind words.
As load factor increases, ailerons and outboard spoilers trailing edge up (dumps some outboard lift) and at the same time inboard spoilers down (if, up - preserves inboard lift). The challenge is what this does to longitudinal center of lift and pitching moment on a swept wing airplane and how to manage to preserve acceptable maneuver response from the pilot's point of view.
Another thought suddenly got caught in my neuron nets. I remember reading that on Airbus A310 they removed the outboard ailerons because, after flying A300, they realized those were "unnecessary". I wonder if they simply added them as, let's call them, "wing load controlling devices".
Last edited by ProPax; 24th Mar 2019 at 10:46. Reason: Typo
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A number of aircraft I'm familiar with use the ailerons for more than one task. Some blended the functions mechanically others via software. It's not that complicated and many model flyers do the same thing particularly in high performance gliders. Google "snap flap" on DLGs for example where the wing trailing edge device is used for pitch trim as well as Roll, High lift and High drag(lift dump). All the functions are mixed in the transmitter in that case.
As for empty wings snapping off!
I flew Tankers and it never happened to me even when landing on fumes! We did have strict rules about how much centre tank fuel we could load and how we considered that fuel in the mass and balance calculations.
As for empty wings snapping off!
I flew Tankers and it never happened to me even when landing on fumes! We did have strict rules about how much centre tank fuel we could load and how we considered that fuel in the mass and balance calculations.