ORIGINAL: MinnFlyer
Personally, I don't think that happened in the crash...
I think the Slybolt just spit that 2-stroke off in disgust.
I'm just busting on you. But I see your point, a decent piece of plywood would have been a big plus. And a better bracing system would have helped. But I also stick to my guns in saying that today's planes are completely re-engineered from the way they were 10 years ago.
Hehe.... You? busting on me? Naaahhhhh................
But yeah, I understood that but your Titanic allegory (it's rhetorical heat puts it beyond analogy into allegory at least) really deserved a bit of trimming.
You have a legitimate complaint about the firewall, but someone else may have broken a stab and said, "If it were fully sheeted like the KIT version was, it wouldn't have happened". And someone else might say, "If they had beefed up the landing gear area, etc, etc."
Thanks for judging my complaint as legitimate. chuckle..... As for what someone else may or may not say..... not really of much importance. And that's true of almost everything. And in this case, I've simply recounted and documented what happened and my take on it. Which if you thing about it, is about all that anyone can do and then leave it for comment. And hope they are sensible enough not to wax eloquent about something else. Like turn of the century ship wrecks.
A few years ago when 3-D came into vogue, the industry went "Light Crazy" (Just as now they are going "Electric Crazy" ). Look at how planes are engineered nowadays with their lite ply interlocking framework. It's strong, yet light and totally different from the way we used to build. But it has to give up one thing to gain another.
Yeah, but I think everyone understands pretty clearly that this Skybolt isn't a 3-D, nor is a two liteply firewall either adequate for a decent service life, nor is it probably adequate for a medium one. It's light yet not what you'd call strong. And it's not supported worth spit. And everyone nowadays has the inclination to hang oversized engines on the sucker and the trend toward 4strokes means that design (from "a few years ago"? right? so it's outdated) is also going to have to stand up to even greater vibration and backfire potential.
So yes, they could have made a stronger firewall, and that would satisfy you, but it wouldn't help the guy who ripped his landing gear off. If they beefed up all of the stuff that everyone had a problem with, we're back to a plane that weighs a pound heavier.
What we've got here is speculation of the greatest sort. You've speculated that the ARF mfg's are doing some pretty magic redesign. And speculated that the landing gear strength has something to do with landing gear?????? And surmised that if they used a layer of 5ply and placed a brace to close off what's obviously a large open hole that the airplane would weigh a pound heavier.
Sorry, but you can't win the argument by guessing that what I'm suggesting is going to add a pound of weight and make the landing gear fall off and associate all that speculation with what I'm suggesting. Nor is the issue on the order of the sinking of the Titanic.