>But it increases the rotational mass >without increasing the surface area, >so the increased mass >dampens the movement.
That's backwards. Mass is not the same as damping. Adding rotational mass (inertia to be more exact) actually reduces the damping forces relative to the inertial forces, so it aggravates flutter. But flutter is vastly more complicated than this simple consideration. Mass balancing suppresses flutter by reducing the inertial coupling between wing bending and aileron deflection. This more than outweighs the unfavorable effects of adding to the aileron's rotational inertia by adding the balancing mass. But in any case, mass balancing seems very impractical in foam-core RC glider wings. - Mark RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note that subscribe and unsubscribe messages must be sent in text only format with MIME turned off.
