Pietenpol-List: drag and anti-drag cables
Posted: Mon Dec 15, 2008 6:41 am
Original Posted By: "Cuy, Michael D. (GRC-RXD0)[ASRC]"
All of the math is interesting and correct, but to answer the original post, you can rest assured that this airplane is grossly overbuilt! Also to your original question, the drag/anti-drag wires in the wing take very little load, especially as compared to things like lift struts. There is no need to tighten them very much, either. once they are drawn snug, they are doing their job. They are holding a particular dimension and will not stretch. You can, however, do damage or add stress by overtightening, which accomplishes nothing.One point that may draw the wrath of the real engineers on here, but in a setup like the lift struts, I do not think you calculate that each strut is carrying half of the load. In a triangular setup like that, each side carrys the entire load. I know for a fact when doing hoisting, such as if you were lifting a steel I-beam (horizontally)with a crane where a cable is attached to each end of the beam forming a triangle with the crane's cable (just picture it, bear with me), each of the two "legs" of the triangle is carrying the entire load, not half.Gene(ducking for cover)________________________________________________________________________________Subject: Pietenpol-List: drag and anti-drag cables Date: Mon, 15 Dec 2008 08:14:15 -0600
All of the math is interesting and correct, but to answer the original post, you can rest assured that this airplane is grossly overbuilt! Also to your original question, the drag/anti-drag wires in the wing take very little load, especially as compared to things like lift struts. There is no need to tighten them very much, either. once they are drawn snug, they are doing their job. They are holding a particular dimension and will not stretch. You can, however, do damage or add stress by overtightening, which accomplishes nothing.One point that may draw the wrath of the real engineers on here, but in a setup like the lift struts, I do not think you calculate that each strut is carrying half of the load. In a triangular setup like that, each side carrys the entire load. I know for a fact when doing hoisting, such as if you were lifting a steel I-beam (horizontally)with a crane where a cable is attached to each end of the beam forming a triangle with the crane's cable (just picture it, bear with me), each of the two "legs" of the triangle is carrying the entire load, not half.Gene(ducking for cover)________________________________________________________________________________Subject: Pietenpol-List: drag and anti-drag cables Date: Mon, 15 Dec 2008 08:14:15 -0600