![]() ![]() ![]() The Horten IX ( or Gotha 229) had wooden wings and a steel tubing frame in the mid wing with wooden skin. In fact, there was already a wooden jet fighter. But the fuselage skin and wing surfaces could easily be wooden. Like the engine, the landing gear itself would need to be made from steel. However, a pure wooden structure would be very hard if not impossible: Structural parts with high point loads (like the landing gear attachment or the engine mounts) could not be made of wood, but will need metal reinforcement. Oh, and there are plans (and a few flying samples) of an all-wooden Me-109. That the wooden rudder used in later variants was heavier than the aluminium rudder it replaced was mainly due to the enlarged size which improved directional stability at high speed. Their main disadvantage, however, was that the wooden wings needed more working hours to complete. In 1944 the wings of the Messerschmitt 109 were re-designed for wooden construction and the result turned out to be equivalent to the aluminium original, but a little heavier. If you can live with that, a subsonic wooden jet is easy to design. For a military aircraft, wood would have the biggest disadvantage because it is sensitive to water and will rot if it is not kept dry. This is certainly true for GA aircraft if you compare wood, aluminium and composites. With its maximum ceiling of 14.8 km, the 12,8 could easily shoot down a Mosquito.Įd Swearingen once remarked that, regardless of what material you use, a design would turn about equal in weight. The larger caliber 10,5 and 12,8 guns would reach higher but were not as widespread. The Mosquito was not too fast to be hit by AA fire from 8,8 Flak (no aircraft is), but flew too high when operating near its maximum operational ceiling.
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