Re: Gluing aluminum


"_" <jtayNOSPAMlor@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:yn9b9gp7lap5.jwk9kkjw362q$.dlg@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
On Sun, 30 Sep 2007 10:23:53 -0400, Ed Huntress wrote:

<snip>


I think that's true, but I flew in DC3's in Canada's Northwest
Territories
that still had fabric-covered control surfaces. Those were *old* DC3's,
and
it was only 20 years ago that I flew in them.

They just stood up a lot longer. They also had severely reduced load
capacities because of the overbuilding.

And there is replacement in newer aircraft that extends their lives.
Still,
everything is built closer to the limits in newer planes.

I believe that the aluminium alloys used were different enough that
although they had less strength/weight, they also were less laibe to
fatigue.

Yes, that's also true. But the big factor was that the safety margins for
aluminum in fatigue were not well established, and commercial planes were
overbuilt.

I also read a story by an old-time pilot who said that the best plane to be
caught in during a storm was a DC-2, because it was so overbuilt, and its
wing loadings were so low, that it was ridiculous. It would stand up to
violent storms that would tear a DC-3 apart.

--
Ed Huntress


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