IS FLUTTER BAD?????
 

i was at the field yesterday flying my new Nexstar and i was at a high altitude
with my throttle at around 80% i went into a steep dive and the plane made this very scary noise
sounded like a 12inch woofer hitting a very deep and low Bass line

well after i cut the engine to about 10% and leveled the plane

this other guy at the field said "Was that Flutter"
and not really knowing anything about the flutter effect i said "Yeah" =)

he said "you better land it and check your plane"

so then i landed the plane and checked everything and there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with it plus i really didn't know what
flutter would do to the plane in order for me to check it

So my ((QUESTION))is """what is Flutter and Why is it bad, and all of the whats/ifs/ands/or butts about it""""

THANKS

RE: IS FLUTTER BAD?????
 

Our Superstar was grounded for a similar condition. When the most experienced flier at the club pointed out that if my son was making a low pass and the flutter caused the aileron to leave the plane this could make for an uncontrolled turn into the spectators and pilots. We had to rebuild the aileron torque rod tubes to get the slop out of the linkage. It has not fluttered since.

The short answer. A fluttering control surface has very high forces on it and can self distruct in a heartbeat. The resulting loss of control can be very dangerous. Flutter is when the force of the air on a control surface (or a whole wing for that matter) causes it to move very quickly or vibrate.

Check for looseness in your control surfaces and linkages. In our case you could take the ailerons and move them up and down 3/8 of an inch.

Dave

RE: IS FLUTTER BAD?????
 

Here was your mistake. Get into the habit right from the start of chopping the throttle to idle anytime the nose of the aircraft is pointing down. There are not many planes that will hold together in a high speed dive with the power on, even if everything is built correctly. Flutter is definitely one possibility, snapping the wing by pulling out too quickly at the bottom would be another. Just remember, nose down - throttle back.

RE: IS FLUTTER BAD?????
 

Flutter can cause servo gears to be stripped. Everything looks ok and the control surfaces move fine on the ground but then you take off and find you don't have much control or any control because now there's forces on them and don't work great with stripped gears.

RE: IS FLUTTER BAD?????
 

Flutter can bang the control surface against your clevis attachment. It jammed the clevis down the control rod on mine, thus resulting in some fixed down elevator that was controlled until I landed. After numerous fixes, it fluttered once again and crashed.

RE: IS FLUTTER BAD?????
 

Make sure the aileron torque rods are epoxied to the ailerons. Our inspectors on trainer night have found that ARF's can have this problem.

RE: IS FLUTTER BAD?????
 

You Know What.....

Just Noticed on my plane that one of the stickers "about a 5" Stirp is not stuck on the plane

Stickers barely on there

I bet that was that makeing that noise
Because thinking back, its sounded like a sticker barely on a plane flaping in the wind =) still gonna check everything tho..................

Thanks guys

RE: IS FLUTTER BAD?????
 

STICK JAMMER said it right!!!
I've seen sooooo many newbies, instructors, and SEASONED PILOTS point it down & throttle up it's not funny![&:]
Nose down throttle down is a lesson I teach rigorosly while breaking in a newbie.;)
Others never learn, they just blame it on the glue!!!:D

RE: IS FLUTTER BAD?????
 

Give her full throttle! If the wings snap off you need a tougher plane!!

:D Just kidding!!

RE: IS FLUTTER BAD?????
 

WELL guys........ thanks for all the info