Quote:
Originally posted by Freycinet:
But, you're right, it should mainly be reserved for planes that fly too fast and then pull out. The other cases should be rare... - but the more spectacular they will be then![/QB]
I agree with all but the other rare cases part. The spars were made of wood, weren't they?(98% anyway!). I would think that a couple of 30 cal/7mm rounds passing through the spar would, of course, cause them to fail quickly under the g forces of a hard turn.

Just the effect of flying in a stabilized manner generates a heck of a load though, and the wings are under a significant load from the taut covering and the support wires as well.

Seen more than a few pics of WW1 planes that appeared to have "folded up" and fell straight down to crash in a heap. Come to think of it, the majority of the crash scenes that I've seen looked to be in a pile rather than scattered about a larger area.

Copterdrvr

Skids are for kids!