Flying wire vs cables

Post a reply

Smilies
:D :) ;) :( :o :shock: :? 8-) :lol: :x :P :oops: :cry: :evil: :twisted: :roll: :!: :?: :idea: :arrow: :| :mrgreen: :geek: :ugeek:

BBCode is ON
[img] is ON
[flash] is OFF
[url] is ON
Smilies are ON

Topic review
   

Expand view Topic review: Flying wire vs cables

Re: Flying wire vs cables

by Dana » Fri Jun 14, 2019 1:36 pm

I'll have to come visit one of these days...

Re: Flying wire vs cables

by dougm » Fri Jun 14, 2019 10:19 am

Dana, great to see you enjoying that Hatz! I miss seeing it around, but happy to know it's in good hands and getting flown regularly.

Re: Flying wire vs cables

by Dana » Wed Jun 12, 2019 8:13 pm

On my plane, the front flying wires and the center section wires are 1/4". The rear flying wires and the landing wires are 3/16", and the tail wires are 5/32". Not saying that's adequate, I haven't done any analysis, but apparently the wings haven't fallen off yet in thirty years of flying... Turnbuckles on all wires, they're pretty pricey nowadays too, though not as bad as streamline wires.

Gus Mihlebach, the original builder, is an engineer, and it shows. The cables are nicopress swaged, then wrapped with wire and soft soldered, just like the woven splices used to be.
IMG_20190612_160116_reduced.jpg
loop_reduced.jpg

Re: Flying wire vs cables

by Roy Miles » Mon Jun 10, 2019 9:28 pm

Dana wrote:My plane (I didn't build it myself) has cables. Not sure of the sizes, have to check. I'm sure they cost some speed but I don't know how much... I cruise 70 knots at 2200 rpm with a 125HP O-290.
It would b great if you could check the sizes and let me know,

Re: Flying wire vs cables

by dougm » Mon Jun 10, 2019 11:51 am

The cables work fine, they just slow you down a lot. When I flew with and talked to the previous owner (not original builder) of Dana's Hatz, he speculated that the wires cost him around 10 mph. He's probably right. A round cross section generates 9x more drag than a streamlined cross section of the same thickness. Given that fact AND that the thickness of a flying wire is substantially less than that of the cable, I'll wager that the cables generate quite a bit more than the 9x additional drag vs. a flying wire.

If you can afford flying wires I'd definitely go for it.

Re: Flying wire vs cables

by Dana » Mon Jun 10, 2019 10:45 am

My plane (I didn't build it myself) has cables. Not sure of the sizes, have to check. I'm sure they cost some speed but I don't know how much... I cruise 70 knots at 2200 rpm with a 125HP O-290.

Flying wire vs cables

by Roy Miles » Sun Jun 09, 2019 6:16 pm

Who has used steel cable in place of the flying wire. What size was used and how did it work out?

Top