KM wrote:

Are you telling us that the tail can only handle its own weight?You are
using apples and oranges here because you used the FLIGHT loads of a
sailplane and the actual weight of the tow plane.In other words, if a
towplane can sustain 4.4Gs (In the utility category) shouldnt the tail
of said towplane ALSO sustain 4.4Gs.


Happy Landings
KMU

KM,

I think what you're missing here is the difference between the limiting
load factor on the towplane as a system (ie. the 4.4Gs) vs. the
limiting load factor on a component. Typically, the primary
load-bearing components in flight are the wing spars and the
carry-through structure; this is carrying the majority of the load.
The tail section will never sustain anything near those sorts of loads
in normal flight.

Think of this way. Suppose your towplane weights 1,500 lbs (just an
illustration). It's pretty easy to imagine it supporting 6,000 lbs of
sandbags spread along the wings (just think of those impressive ads
showing proof-testing of spars). Now, imagine piling those same
6,000 lbs of sandbags on the empennage (assuming you could find the
space to stack them :-))

Anyway, I can probably come up with some guesstimates on what the tail
section of a typical welded steel cluster could withstand, but why
bother?

P3