Tail flutter

[rgmwa]

This would have me a bit concerned if I saw it in the rear view mirror...

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfkkiDsEXUA

 

rgmwa

 

 

[Head in the clouds]

Ooh aah, that looks like it's on the point of failure. What I find a bit bizarre is why they don't seem to do anything to halt the flutter propagation (pull up) and why does the video stop there? Surely they wouldn't stop filming at that stage, where's the rest of the footage?

 

A Google for the aircraft rego reveals that the plane crashed and was written off beyond repair with one fatality, but not as a result of this flutter but fuel exhaustion 32 years to the day later.

 

Apparently, after this flutter event NASA used this aircraft for further flutter research which resulted in design changes that were incorporated in later versions of the Comanche.

 

 

[rgmwa]

I read that the test pilot was Fred Haise, the lunar module pilot on Apollo 13. It was rumoured that Fred once said that the Comanche flutter test was more scary to him than the entire Apollo 13 mission.

 

rgmwa

 

 

[planedriver]

A bit more about flutter on varios structures

 

 

 

[facthunter]

All the Commanche tails are the same. They are a great aircraft otherwise. Everything has to be correct with full flying tails. I don't like them at all, especially on U/L's where you have no idea how proven the design is. The Electra wings came of in less than a second. I think they lost about 3 before someone saw one break up in flight. Eventually the wing was located in a different position as on the Orion 's which we have heard a bit about lately. Nev

 

 

[Guernsey]

How can you have an all flying tail if it doesn't flap...

 

Alan.

 

 

[kgwilson]

The Electra wings came of in less than a second. I think they lost about 3 before someone saw one break up in flight. Eventually the wing was located in a different position as on the Orion 's which we have heard a bit about lately. Nev

That was a good idea otherwise we might be looking for a bunch of Orions instead of just a 777-200:cheezy grin:.

[rankamateur]

That was a good idea otherwise we might be looking for a bunch of Orions instead of just a 777-200:cheezy grin:.

But they would be a bloody lot easier to find because there would be more of them and we know which ocean they were flying over!