STRESSING STRUCTURE

In order to figure
V-n Diagram
out what the loads Up to VA, the pilot can use full up (or
BY DAVID PAULE

42 kts Stalling speed, flaps down

are on an airplane, first we gather a nearly that much) elevator without over- 3.8 G Limit positive load factor
bunch of data and then work up a V-n stressing the airplane. It takes the plane 145 kts VH, top speed, sea level,
diagram. The "V" stand for velocity and to the limit positive G load factor. level flight, maximum
the "n" stands for the maximum positive Ve is the maximum speed for flying in continuous power
limit G load that the airplane can sur- gusty or turbulent conditions. For a basic reference, I'll use FAR
vive. Once we have that, we know how The never-exceed speed, VNE, is 90% of Part 23 Appendix A, "Simplified
many Gs the plane can see and at what the speed Vp, which is the high-speed test Design Load Criteria for Conventional
speeds, and then we can work up the limit ofthe airplane. Single-Engine Airplanes of 6,000
loads on the wings and tail. Other loads Let's draw up a sample V-n diagram Pounds or Less Maximum Weight."It's
like the ground handling loads and the and see what it gives us. The basic infor- find online.
easy to

engine mount loads are only partially mation that we start with are all things The title alone provides us with
affected by the V-n diagram, but even that the designer will establish very early some cautions. We shouldn't use it for
there, its influence is felt. in the design process. I've just made up multi-engine airplanes, shouldn't use
The V-n diagram is the envelope that some numbers here that aren't applicable itfor heavy iron, and if your airplane is
pilots talk about when they say that to a particular airplane. unconventional, this probably isn't what

they are "opening up the envelope." The 1,400 lbs Gross weight you should use as a guide. I'd think that
speeds it shows are the speeds that gov- 123 ft² Wing area "conventional" probably means that it
ern how the pilot operates the airplane. 47 kts Stalling speed, flaps up has a tail in back, the main wings are

G load VA Vc VD

4
3.8
A C D

Vne
2
1.9

1
Vs Vf
Vsf
이

-1

G F E

-2-1.9

40 80 120 160
-3 200 Speed, kts
이

This is the completed V-n diagram.

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 Table 1 Speeds for the V-n Diagram
VNE that's marked on the airspeed indica-
Minimum Maximum Chosen tor. So let's increase this to:

98.6 kts VD = 178 kts, and this will have VNE =

VA and VG 140 kts 100 kts
160 kts.
VcandVF 111.8 kts 130.5 kts 130 kts
Now we should identify the maximum
Vp and VE 157.8 kts 156.5 kts 178 kts speed at which the pilot can use full up

V (in this case, flaps) 72.3 kts NA 80 kts

elevator to stall the plane, putting the
maximum positive limit load on it.
VAmin = 15 kts * 6.577 = 98.6 kts
Don't confuse the speed for Point F on the V-n diagram with the flap speed Vf.
VAmax Ve so VAmax 135 kts
more or less ahead ofthe tail, and the be faster than this. But it could be if we We already know that the airplane
wings aren't swept forward or back by have a good reason for it. stalls at 47 kts clean, so that speed would
more than a few degrees. It probably In the calculations we'll use the be 47 kts * (3.8)1/2.
doesn't have more thanasingle-surface number 6.577 already came up
we This works out to 91.6 kts. At VAmin
Aarrangement, and the engine is with, rather than writing out the full the airplane can pull more Gs than that.
oably ahead of the wing. equation. You can follow along in How many? 3.8 * (98.6/ 91.6)2 4.4 Gs, =

Now there's nothing at all wrong the reference if you'd like. If not, just which would put it squarely in the util-
with an airplane that's not conventional remember that number, 6.577, is the ity category, were it a certified airplane.
in these ways; it's just that this isn't the result of working the parameter for- This airplane isn't that strong. Still, by
best guide for calculating its loads. For mula above, and will vary from air- suggesting that the VA speed could go up
airplanes that aren't conventional in this planeto airplane. For your airplane, from there, they felt that it was acceptable
sense, refer to thefull Part 23 for a more figure out what the applicable number to pick higher speeds and put the burden
detailed reference. is and usethat instead. a
ofkeeping the G load undercontrol upon
None of these regulations are The first step is to calculate the gust the pilot. We'll arbitrarily select
required for our homebuilt Experi- penetration speed, Ve. From the reference, VA = 100 kts
mental aircraft. But every one of them VCmin = 17 kts * 6.577 = 111.8 kts The final speed is the maximum speed
was learned the hard way, you know, VCmax ≤.9 * VH so VCmax ≤ 130.5 kts for full flaps.
in blood. They make a good body of That funny arrow with a line under- Vfmin = 11 kts * 6.577 =72.3 kts
knowledge and experience, and are neath means "less than or equal to," by If we follow the same logic as we did
worth following. the way, and is a math symbol. before, we know that this minimum
Below is the V-n diagram that we'll Let's choose 130 kts for Ve: speed can result in a G load of 3.0 Gs,
work up, following the reference. We'll Vc = 130 kts. which is more than the flaps-down load
calculate the speeds and G loads, starting Next, we find out the speeds for VD. factor of 1.9 that we already know about.
h the basic data we've collected. VDmin = 24 kts 6.577 * = 157.8 kts Appendix A does not recommend a
he first thing we need to do is calcu- VDmax ≤ 1.4* VCmin * (n₁/3.8)1/2 so maximum speed for this condition. So
late the parameter [n, *W/S]12, which is VDmax 156.5 kts let's arbitrarily choose V = 80 kts and
used a lot in the V-n diagram. Grab your I'd prefer that the airplane have a bit hope that the pilot will be able to get
calculator and verify that this parameter more tolerance for a pilot descending down to that speed routinely. I wanted
is 6.577 for the airplane in this example. from cruise. Also, while the airplane is to have it be above 75 kts since I think
As long as you're using the units of knots, designed and tested to VD, that speed is this relatively clean airplane could easily
pounds, and square feet, you can ignore later reduced to 90% of that value for the go that fast with flaps down. But on the
the units in the equation.
From Table 1 in the reference, we
know that n₂ is -1/2* n₁ giving -1.9 and you've been dreaming of this for years...
that n flap is 1/2 * n₁ for 1.9. But before
we can find the remaining G loads, we'll
need to calculate the speeds. The refer-
ence generally gives a minimum speed
and then says that the speed need not
exceed a maximum speed; we get to cal-
culate both and then decide. I've iden-
tified those maximum speeds with the ATECH
subscript "max" below, but remember
that it's not a speed limit; it's a reminder
AIRCRAFT. LLG
that the speed we choose doesn't have to 208-337-5111
www.kitfoxaircraft.com Now is the time.
Graph: David Paule KITPLANES February 2017 51