wanttaja@ssc-vax.UUCP (Ronald J Wanttaja) (09/28/84)
> Destabilizing an aircraft for improved performance is the latest leap > in aircraft technology. Of course, the triple redundant control system > is needed since a failure of a systems would make the aircraft impossible > to control. Yes, well, if you run your reference point for "latest" back to about 1903 or so. The Wright brothers used a canard configuration BECAUSE it was inherently unstable... they wanted an aircraft that could be controlled. If I remember right, they were concerned about excessive stability that was a result of aft-mounted stabilization surfaces. And realize, they also had Fly-By-(piano) Wire control |-). The Wrights did decide that properly designed "Arrow Stability" (the term for it, back then) allowed sufficient control, and left the canard configuration (dare I say it?) behind in the Wright B model. Ron Wanttaja (ssc-vax!wanttaja) "Don't give me a P-38 with engines that counter-rotate, It'll loop, roll, and spin... And then auger right in, Don't give me a P-38" I'm not serious... I'll take any P-38s offered...