Message text written by INTERNET:europa@avnet.co.uk
>I thought that modern laminar sections were much more tolerant of rain and
bug contamination than they used to be. Hence the term NLF, natural laminar
flow. Doesn't that imply more tlerance to inaccuracy?
Graham<
Gee, I don't know, Graham...
My gliders wings could be upgraded to a "B"model ASW 24 by modifying the
leading edge radius on the outside panels all the way to the winglets. I
have the manufacturers profile data for 5 stations along this tapered wing
panel. After plotting the profile, there is only about a 4 mm amount of
material to be removed from the leading edge. In other words, the radius
is to be increased. I had a machine shop NC mill aluminum templates for
this minor change. People who did the mod told me that you don't even get
into the aramid fiber of the outer skin when removing the (mostly) gelcoat
material from the nose.
However, I am scared stiff to ruin my beautiful wings by screwing up on
this. With all this said, yes I am pretty sure that minute profile flaws
can cost you big time. Those glider guys who had their wings re-gelcoated
because of crazing or cracking report that often the performance of their
ships is worse than before their spending of over $10,000!
Herbert
|