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We had long heard that the difference was 40 lb. That "ancient wisdom" may have been based on Grade-A cotton and I don't know if that would make any difference or how much. Anyway, some of the list members questioned that number three years ago. Below is the message Lynn Nelson sent us after actually measuring wings. If anyone else has suitable wings, in good condition, clean inside, painted and ready to be mounted and can weigh them for us, I'd be interested in the results. Ed Burkhead http://edburkhead.com ed -at- edburkheadQQQ.com (change -at- and remove the QQQ) -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, May 31, 2002 9:07 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [COUPERS-FLYIN] Re: Weight of fabric verses metal covered wings Coupers: Your wishes have been answered. I just went out in the hanger and weighed a fabric wing (covered with ceconite and doped with colors to match the paint job on the metal wing) followed by a metal wing. This was done on my digital bathroom scale, after calibrating itself (caused by moving it from one location to the other). The wings are virtually the same except for the covering. Results? Fabric wing 50.0 lbs Metal covered wing 65.6 lbs Assuming the same is true for the opposite side, the total difference would be 31.2 pounds. Now, to address Greg's' comment. The roll rate would be faster with the lighter wings, due to the smaller amount of inertia to be overcome. When the same amount of aileron deflection/rate is applied to the fabric covered wings, and the metal covered wings. It has been over 33 years since I went through Navy Test Pilot school, so I have long ago forgotten the formulas to calculate the difference in the response. I am not sure that most pilots would be able to notice the difference, but trust me, there would be a difference. Lynn Nelsen N2402H Frostproof FL ========================================================================== ==== To leave this forum go to: http://ercoupers.com/lists.htm Search the archives on http://escribe.com/aviation/coupers-tech/
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