The designer could make the fuselage so strong that it would never break, no
matter how fast the ground loop of snap roll. But then the fuselage would be
twice the area, four times the weight, and the glider would never get off the
ground.It is all a trade off in strength to performance.

It is not a given that the tail will break in a ground loop. Most gliders are
designed to survive ground loops with no damange, 'cept maybe a dizzy pilot.

Couldn't the T-tail designer just make the fuselage stronger? Or the
V-tail designer make the fuselage lighter to take more advantage of the
lower tail CG, so they both withstand a ground loop just as well?



Jim Vincent
N483SZ
illspam