Homework from last Wednesday was to determine what the "utility" envelope in the W&B graph means.
I checked my textbook, I check a bunch of sites on the web, and unfortunately I don't have the POH with me to see if it gives meaning for it.
Cobbling together clues from these different resources, however, it seems to me that the utility envelope expresses the safe range for maneuvers with a high load factor. I did see one site that said if you're trying to spin an airplane to load within the utility envelope.
The utility range is the lower left corner, which indicates a lighter load with a more forward CG. The lighter load will result in lower load factors for the same maneuvers than would a heavier load, so if you're planning to push the plane or do aerobatics, you'd obviously want to contribute to the load factor by your actions rather than your bulk.
The location of the CG affects aircraft handling. Forward CGs make for more stable aircraft, but too forward a CG increases the stalling speed.
No comments:
Post a Comment