At 08:03 PM 3/22/2004 -0500, you wrote: >Shouldn't the >Ailerons balance each other, since if the left one goes down the right one >goes up?
The ailerons, taken as a multi-body mechanical system, will naturally tend to self-balance. This is not the same as balance for flutter consideration. >There was only one reason to add counterweights to ailerons, and that was to >increase inertia of the system as to reduce Eigen-Frequency of the whole >system to a manageable frequency. You want to increase the natural frequency of the system. With an engine/prop combination, you can pass through a resonance frequency without damage. This is not the same with the wing. This entire area of discussion can't be condensed into a few paragraphs. The short answer is that the wing must be stiff to increase the natural frequency and the aileron should balanced. >Schleicher Aircraft used an interesing >method in the ASW-19, by putting lead into the top of the control stick. This is probably not a weight for flutter consideration, but instead is used to alter the control forces. A so-called "bob" weight attached to the stick in such a way that normal gravity pulls the stick nose-up will need to be counteracted with aerodynamic force on the trim tab. Don Reid - donreid "at" erols.com Bumpass, Va Visit my web sites at: AeroFoil, a 2-D Airfoil Design And Analysis Computer Program: http://www.eaa231.org/AeroFoil/index.htm KR2XL construction: http://users.erols.com/donreid/kr_page.htm Aviation Surplus: http://users.erols.com/donreid/Airparts.htm EAA Chapter 231: http://eaa231.org Ultralights: http://usua250.org VA EAA State Fly-in: http://vaeaa.org
