Has anyone read the article in the latest Custom Planes on
flutter
starring our first design?

Chris
microcosman.com

Vance W Jaqua wrote:

Chris- I finally backed up to the Jan issue and read the report. I
was
probably one of the people that he mentioned talking to, and I
suggested
raising the frequancy with a stiffening bulkhead in the tail. His
more
direct approach of cutting off some vert mass apparently did the job.
An intersting side to this that others on the site might find
interesting
is the fact that this is another demonstration that composite planes
appear to be one of the few configurations where you can fly home
to tell about your experience after flutter. Actually the Piper that
he mentioned seeing the video, also flew home. The flutter almost
instantly broke the spar in the horizontal, and this shifted the
frequency. The skins were still intact, and provided enough
structure for a gingerly return to field. Vance

Can somebody scan that article for me?
Or Xerox it? Are we talking torsional flutter of the entire tail?
How about a few layers of diagonal carbon uni inside the aft fuse?

Paul Lamar

Here's another shot of the plane, courtesy of Pacific Flyer.  What is
the
preferred limit for a picture file size anyway Paul?

Chris
microcosman.com/aircraft

100K. Nice picture. Looks like the aft fuse is plenty stiff unless it is
made out of tissue paper :) What was the lay-up?

Paul Lamar

Layup schedule on the fuselage was two crossed plies of Rutan uni on
the inside of the shell, and two crossed plies on the outside.  The
outside plies were continuous, since the fuselage halves were joined
prior to glassing the outside.  Shell foam thickness was about 3/8
inch after sanding to final form, prior to glassing the outside.
Mike Cosman

 
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