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Flutter - How to find the cause??

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Old 01-18-2015 | 04:14 PM
  #51  
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Here's some photos of what things look like.




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Last edited by A. J. Clark; 01-18-2015 at 04:55 PM.
Old 01-18-2015 | 04:21 PM
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Do you have any pics of the ailerons? The tip s especially, and the linkages.
Old 01-18-2015 | 04:22 PM
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I would have thought that Scale would have chimed in by now.
Old 01-18-2015 | 04:28 PM
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Also, how strong is the connection between the elevator halves? You could have the side not connected to the pushrod flexing loose.
Old 01-18-2015 | 04:30 PM
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If that airframe has experienced numerous flights where Flutter was a factor then I would have serious concerns about the glue joints as that plane is rather vintage.
Old 01-18-2015 | 04:46 PM
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More photos

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Last edited by A. J. Clark; 01-18-2015 at 04:53 PM.
Old 01-18-2015 | 06:23 PM
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I don't see anything that jumps out at me. Maybe the elevator joiner. Could be some loose covering buzzing. Usually an airplane in best case scenario survives flutter once.
Old 01-18-2015 | 06:40 PM
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Originally Posted by TheEdge
I would have thought that Scale would have chimed in by now.
Must be busy over on Trader Talk.

Keep em honest Mr Morgan.
Old 01-18-2015 | 07:03 PM
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Originally Posted by TheEdge
I would have thought that Scale would have chimed in by now.
How cute, TheEdge seems to have a man crush!
Old 01-18-2015 | 07:06 PM
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It certainly is about the fondness
Old 01-18-2015 | 07:23 PM
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It is almost impossible to ascertain without seeing the plane in real life. Especially considering the surface that is fluttering is unknown.
Old 01-19-2015 | 04:19 AM
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Its very easy to ascertain which surfaces are experiencing flutter. All it takes is one small hole. As I have noted repeatedly 'After all else fails' AJ try the simple mass balance.

To arbitrarily dismiss mass balance as makeshift and even ignoring its usefulness as a diagnostic tool to identify which surfaces are affected as well as the only tool we normally have avalible to us is head in the sand thinking. Despite what some would have you think there are occasions when all the normal cures that is under discussion here do not work. This is the ideal candidate for mass balance.

There have been some more modern airplanes, typical scale aerobats or near scale that have had history of flutter. For some of these that I have assembled (arfs) for the fellows it was a very easy matter to insert a small ball of lead into the aerodynamic balance area of all the surfaces which thereby allows these portions of the surfaces that is forward of hingeline to also acts as internal mass balance in addition to aerodynamic balance area. In these cases none that I ever put together experienced flutter on any surface.

So AJ and agine your airplane is at risk for aileron flutter, so what are you gonna do?

John
Old 01-19-2015 | 04:24 AM
  #63  
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I'd guess it aileron flex a the wing tips just the balsa itself flexing. If you're not wanting to change the aileron set up, that is cut them down and put 2 servos out in the wings, then you could try tapering the tips down. That should help.

good luck
Old 01-19-2015 | 07:11 AM
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While taking photos I looked things over close again. The ailerons and elevator are pretty solid, as good as any
other planes I have built. The rudder has some play in the hinge probably more than it should have. I have the idea
to disconnect the rudder control and pin the rudder so it can't move then fly. Maybe if the rudder is fluttering that's why
I haven't seen the flutter and it hasn't destroyed itself. I have had smaller planes with just aileron
and elevator control but have never seen or heard of a plane of this size with only aileron and elevator control. Does anyone see
any problems with trying this.
Old 01-19-2015 | 07:14 AM
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It would be a good idea to check the hinges on all surfaces as they do get brittle and fail. It would be my advise to change the hinges if your up for the task and then seal the hinge line.
Old 01-19-2015 | 08:11 AM
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Originally Posted by JohnBuckner
Its very easy to ascertain which surfaces are experiencing flutter. All it takes is one small hole. As I have noted repeatedly 'After all else fails' AJ try the simple mass balance.
Almost all full size planes use mass balances on control surfaces. A properly balanced surface CAN NOT flutter. Without a balanced surface there are other things that help prevent flutter...stiff linkages, light surfaces, the shape of the surface, etc.

It is certainly possible to prevent flutter using all these methods.

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aileron...alance_weights
To prevent control surface flutter (aeroelastic flutter), the center of lift of the control surface should be behind the center of gravity of that surface. To achieve this, lead weights may be added to the front of the aileron. In some aircraft the aileron construction may be too heavy to allow this system to work without huge weight increases. In this case, the weight may be added to a lever arm to move the weight well out in front to the aileron body. These balance weights are tear drop shaped (to reduce drag), which make them appear quite different from spades, although both project forward and below the aileron. In addition to reducing flutter, mass balances also reduce the stick forces required to move the control surface in flight.
Old 01-19-2015 | 09:02 AM
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radfordc-You covered all the bases.
Old 01-19-2015 | 02:28 PM
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This 3D model is one two identical models that I fly and it had aileron flutter when flying into the wind. The addition of balance weights to the large ailerons cured the problem. The other model has no flutter at all.
The model has flat wing tips that allowed me to easily glue balance weights to the ends of the ailerons. The lead weights are embedded and epoxy’d in cutouts in the light plywood that extends forward of the leading edge of the ailerons.
When the ailerons are neutralized for transportation there are no long protrusions sticking out to hook into anything else in the car.
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Old 01-19-2015 | 04:14 PM
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This is a good example of information overload! This Tauri model is not a 3D model, with gynormous surfaces. It also has no leading edge control surface exposed to the airstream. So adding ballast may we be a solution, but I am telling you, if you clip those ailerons back, it will most likely stop.
Old 01-19-2015 | 05:00 PM
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Ahh, yess, I knew Ed Kazmirski's Tauri very well. I’ve kept this souvenir of mine from the 1960’s. Six channel reeds and scratch built home made servos. Shot down by citizens band voice.
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Old 01-19-2015 | 05:08 PM
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I'd check your exit tubes for buzzin of those long wood push-rods, could also try a slow speed run-up with a slightly unbalanced prop and look and listen.
Old 01-20-2015 | 12:51 PM
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Check landing gear also for slop on axels
Old 03-15-2015 | 06:20 AM
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Hi guys. I had a model that flew great until I cut out a new wing and installed it. It had much the same problem, I got flutter in a high spead dive. I repaired the crash damage, looked for problems, nothing loose, no hinge gaps. I sealed the hinge surfaces. I crashed again. I consulted my club members, and found the wing airfoil was just a little bit thicker than the old wing. The consensus was I was flying too fast for the airfoil, causing the air to seperate from the surface. That creates turbulance that reaches the control surfaces and causes flutter. There is no fix other than to slow down, or build a wing with a thinner profile. Its called overflying your wing ! I just put a bigger diameter prop with less pitch on. The model flew better manuvers and landed slower. I was a happy man. Speed is not everything. I looked at the pics of your plane and it looks like a pretty thick airfoil. The engines that were around when that plane was designed, didnt put out the power that the modern day engines do. You might consider the prop fix. Happy flying!

Last edited by kenworthbob; 03-15-2015 at 06:24 AM. Reason: spelling
Old 03-16-2015 | 06:33 AM
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Hi!
You have aileron flutter!
It's a no no to have the ailerons going all the way to the wing tip! Cut off the last 10-15cm part of the ailerions and glue them to the trailing edge of the wing and you will see that the flutter disapears

Last edited by jaka; 03-16-2015 at 07:34 AM.
Old 09-18-2015 | 01:51 PM
  #75  
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I believe I have found where the flutter is coming from. It's the ailerons. The guys at the field though the rudder had a lot of slop on the hinge. They suggested taking the monokote hinge off and replace it with mylar hinges. So I did that. Still had flutter with the new hinges. Then I put a 6 to 8in piece of cellorphane tape on the end of each aileron. Still had so flutter but the sound had changed. Then added another piece to the bottom. All the flutter then was gone. I could fly fast as I wanted and dive as hard I wanted with no flutter.

Last edited by A. J. Clark; 09-18-2015 at 02:12 PM.


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