rolling a 707
 

is there any truth in the rumour that if a boeing 707 is rolled, either deliberately or accidentally the wings will be damaged sufficiently to fail on a later flight.

the 707 prototype was famously rolled over a boat show crowd with no problems but perhaps its wings were stronger

There is no truth to that rumor but...don't do it.:E

The famous barrel roll in question was accomplished by Alvin M. "Tex" Johnston on August 7th, 1955 over Lake Washington, in the Boeign prototype which was the Boeing 367-80 which was similar in looks only, but completely different to the production model B707. The Boeing 367-80 was in other words a proof of concept aircraft wich was 132" in diameter whilst the 707 is 144" in diameter to accomodate 6 accross in economy.

You can do any manuever in any aircraft without causing any damage to the aircraft provided that you do not exceed any of the designed load limitations. Bob Hoover, a test pilot, is probably one of the most brilliant demonstration pilots in the history of aviation that has proven this fact in many aircraft.

Oh no, not again:ugh:

07s have been rolled, 720 have been rolled.

Many times, but sometimes subject to death......

The 720 was rolled:eek:?!?! Who would perform such a dasterdly maneuver such as that:yuk::eek:!?!?!

"You know that, we know that...just don't do it anymore!"
 

Of course...
The world famous Alex Henshaw barrel rolled Lancasters during production test flights occasionally - a straight 1g maneouvre, usually with something or other balanced on the instrument coaming. He said they handled just like a 4-engined Spitfire...

A 617 Sq. pilot returning from a Tallboy or Grand Slam raid, coming across a straggling B17, barrel rolled his Lancaster right around it (allegedly)!
617 Lancs were a bit 'slipperier' and lighter than std ones, without a dorsal turret and some other gubbins.Of course, with a 22,000lb Grand Slam hanging half out of their 30 ft bomb-bay, they would struggle to 20,000 ft.

.. and then Geoffrey de Havilland attracted attention to the Mosquito's phenomenal performance with his single-engined loops during demos for the top brass, on both sides of the Atlantic. Very impressive for a twin-engined bomber in 1941 :D

Searchlight escape maneouvres were rapidly descending corscrews... rolling would be pointless.

Why would the rules of aerodynamics not apply to one type of aircraft? You do a roll correctly, the main thing you notice is the ground at the top of the windshield. You do one badly and it can get very ugly very fast.

Lets sum up - you can roll any aircraft if you have enough energy to play with - if you do a proper barrel roll by the book you will get an acceleration somewhere between 1 and 2 g if you dont overdo it - 720 has been rolled (for nothing more than spits and giggles to my knowledge)... Concorde has been rolled multiple times as far as I know, don't see why you couldnt do it on say a 737-700 today.

An oft repeated fact that is of course completely false. A barrel roll and any other manoeuvre that involves pitch changes cannot be limited to 1g. You can make a barrel roll entirely positive, and you can make the g loadings low, but you cannot keep them at 1g which is the loading you start with flying straight and level.

Correct, thanks!