highspeed
Well-Known Member
I've been researching different airplanes to get a sense of how wood fuselage structures are designed. I see that the Falco has fully curved fuselage bulkheads with longerons at the 12,3,6,and 9 o'clock positions. Plywood skinning makes up the outer skin. I've seen some other planes like the KR-2 and the Asso V that have longerons arranged in a roughly rectangular cross section with only vertical members connecting the upper and lower longerons. Again, plywood skinning makes up the outer skin. My question is this: How are the loads carried in each structure? It would seem to me that the KR-2 style would have the upper longerons loaded in tension and the lower longerons loaded in compression under positive loading with the vertical members preventing buckling and the skin carrying the shear loads. How are the loads carried in the Falco? Are the top and bottom longerons primary load carrying members for bending loads or are they just there to support the skin against buckling as it carries the loads from the tail?
