ORIGINAL: sensei
I was wondering how long it would take you to see my last post and respond, You know what Zor, I like you, because you have spunk!!!
These days I come to the forum roughly twice a day.
Gheeee ___I discover some of my attributes even in my old age; it is fascinating
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Now, you stated A light weight model flies like a light weight model . It has less mass and less inertia to handle the wind and the wind gusts. It also, of course, has less strength and less resistance to damage in a crash. It often determines if the crashed model ends up in the garbage or on the repair bench.
Let us consider for a moment two models that are identical except for their weight.
One that was built by "Joe Doe" and weigh 5 lbs (a weightyou previously mentioned) and
the one that you built and weigh 3.5 lbs
They are flying in formation (close to each other and at the same speed) and a sudden gust of wind comes on.
Having the same areas presented to the wind the gust will create the same force on both.
If we both believe that accelaration is proportional to force and inversely proportional to mass then the lighter model will accelerate (be disturbd) more than the heavier one and we see that at the flying field.
A lightweight model dampens the effect of gusts faster than it's porky counterpart so they both for the most part act the same in gusty conditions Zor.
I have to disagree based on physics and observations.
It also explain why many fellows do not fly their light weight models if the wind is either too fast or too gusty while others with heavier wing loading are enjoyng their flight.
Guys that only know to build heavy always state the same reason for building that way; they take a crash better and heavy flies better, oh especially in the wind.
That is all just a myth because that MASS and INERTIA your talking about, sure does come into play when you pile drive it in.
We must first realize that most builders do not intentionally build heavier than their kit or the drawings are calling for. Yourself must, at some time, have built like most do. Your efforts to reduce weight are kind of a personal endeavor and certainly a nice ambition in the hobby. Any manufacturer's designers could do the same as you are doing but interestingly they do not. Any design is a compromise involving both weight and strength.
The gluing technique and the covering and finishing method is also very much factors of what are the results of an abnormal landing.
Kinda like catching an 8 oz baseball at 100 mph, good catch right. Now increase the weight of that ball to maybe 2 or 3 pounds and catch that baby inbound at 100 mph. After you get out of the hospital, let us know heavier does not hit with more energy...
Heavier certainly hit with more mass (thus more energy) but if the extra mass compared to a lighter one is well engineered and the construction adequately done to reduce damages it boils down to the choice ___
Garbage can of repair bench.
To be noted that with our models we are not talking about a 1:4 ratio (8 oz vs 2 lbs) or a 1:6 ratio (8 oz vs 3 lbs) as you quote for a baseball. Nearly always our ratios are more like 1:1.5 or much less. Comparing an 11 lbs model to a 7.5 lbs model as previously mentioned in previous postings. That ratio is an extreme rarely encountered.
Bob,
I will read you if you respond but I sincerely think I have nothing more to add to this discussion.
Zor