Just out of curiosity - Airplane Guys

That's pronounced dihedral. Di-hedral. /dʌɪˈhiːdr(ə)l/
Yep... the opposite of anhedral. Bonus points (anyone) if you know why some aircraft have anhedral.

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Brit forum members can weigh in on this one I`m sure.:thumbsup: Today on the VFT.

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For some reason there is no graphic in the post.

If it is about the Short Sunderland flying boat, despite appearances to the contrary, they were apparently extraordinarily difficult to shoot down. The Germans called it the Fliegendes Stachelschwein or "Flying Porcupine". I guess those Sunderland crews had an extra reason to fight back hard - if they bailed out, they were normally over water which could be far from land and/or infested with sharks etc.
 
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Yup. Neutral or even negative roll stability makes for a more maneuverable fighter.
So.... why would a huge cargo plane have anhedral?

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The same reason. The high-mounted wing used in many cargo airplanes helps with cargo loading (lower floor height) and less structure passing through the cabin/cargo hold, but it provides an extra measure of stability due to the "pendulum" effect.

However, this can also limit the operational effectiveness of the airplane. For that reason, the wings of many large transports are rigged with anhedral so that the airplane can maneuver more effectively. With modern fly-by-wire systems and augmented stability, they can get darned near anything they want out of an airplane.

Besides, it places the engines closer to the ground so that it is easier for the ramp-rats to check the oil...;)
 
The high-mounted wing..........provides an extra measure of stability due to the "pendulum" effect.
Yeah... that extra measure of stability is ofttimes too much stability, requiring more aileron surface to roll. Snowball starts rollin'. Now we need a bigger vertical fin and rudder to compensate for the additional adverse yaw the bigger ailerons got us. Better to reduce the stability so's we don't need all that extra area in the wind.
 
Yeah... that extra measure of stability is ofttimes too much stability, requiring more aileron surface to roll. Snowball starts rollin'. Now we need a bigger vertical fin and rudder to compensate for the additional adverse yaw the bigger ailerons got us. Better to reduce the stability so's we don't need all that extra area in the wind.

Indeed - like nearly everything else, the design of an airplane (or a car, a motorcycle, a toaster....etc.) is a compromise among a bunch of factors including cost, energy consumption, performance (whoever one might define that for a given product), manufacturability, maintainability....etc.

...and possibly, vibration control. :D
 
Getting back to the F4F, a memory comes in mind...back in '18, the wife and I went to Tulsa OK so I could show Vickie the house and area where I grew up.
Well my brother in law and I were at a Air Museum his father was a part off. It's located near the end of the runway at the main airport. We were wandering around an the sound of a round aircraft piston engine fills the space. We went to the door leading outside and low and behold it was a late Eastern built (taller tail) F4F!. We watched it do it's take off. Always a pleasure to hear and see such propeller aircraft.
 
. . . the Short Sunderland flying boat, despite appearances to the contrary, they were apparently extraordinarily difficult to shoot down. The Germans called it the Fliegendes Stachelschwein or "Flying Porcupine". I guess those Sunderland crews had an extra reason to fight back hard - if they bailed out, they were normally over water which could be far from land and/or infested with sharks etc.

Pete, you will have read accounts of Sunderlands out over Biscay being attacked by multiple Ju88s, operating in the long-range fighter rôle? In one often-cited battle, eight Jus attacked a Sunderland which shot down, from imperfect memory, four of them and damaged/drove off the remainder. The Sunderland just made it back to Blighty with considerable damage and the pilot managed to beach it. Little known aspect of the war but heroic stuff.


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Just had to repost this one from the great VFT site today. "The Aviator":thumbsup::thumbsup:
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Hi Halfmile,
back in those days the air speed records were mostly held by seaplanes, kinda like Spitfires on floats.
Story I heard was that before they got reliable variable pitch airscrews it took a 3-mile runup to go fast enough to un-stall the propeller.
 
Was cleaning up my computer today 'cause the hard drive is full. Ran across these....
When I was teaching at AIM, I got the job of teaching the Air Force boys from Whiteman AFB so they'd pass their A&P tests. Being retired AF I was the logical choice I guess. Anyway... couple of the AF guys invited us out for a nickel tour of the B-2 Stealth Bomber. It's pretty impressive up close.

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Was cleaning up my computer today 'cause the hard drive is full. Ran across these....
When I was teaching at AIM, I got the job of teaching the Air Force boys from Whiteman AFB so they'd pass their A&P tests. Being retired AF I was the logical choice I guess. Anyway... couple of the AF guys invited us out for a nickel tour of the B-2 Stealth Bomber. It's pretty impressive up close.

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VERY cool Jim!
 
That mention of the B-2 reminded me of the time my older brother had the misfortune of having a kidney stone attack just after the B-52 he was, I believe, working as the EWO on took off with full load of fuel. Seems those birds can take off with more fuel in the wings than they can land with so it was "just deal with it" till we get done with mission.
 
Was cleaning up my computer today 'cause the hard drive is full. Ran across these....
When I was teaching at AIM, I got the job of teaching the Air Force boys from Whiteman AFB so they'd pass their A&P tests. Being retired AF I was the logical choice I guess. Anyway... couple of the AF guys invited us out for a nickel tour of the B-2 Stealth Bomber. It's pretty impressive up close.

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What no ride
 
Was cleaning up my computer today 'cause the hard drive is full. Ran across these....
When I was teaching at AIM, I got the job of teaching the Air Force boys from Whiteman AFB so they'd pass their A&P tests. Being retired AF I was the logical choice I guess. Anyway... couple of the AF guys invited us out for a nickel tour of the B-2 Stealth Bomber. It's pretty impressive up close.

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Dang Jim! I’d have one of those framed and hanging on the wall! :smoke:
 
I’m sure there must be some room in the wings somewhere for fuel, thing is, for the life of me I can’t figure out where.
 
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