Do airframes bend?

[Kurfürst]

Originally Posted by cheyennepilot

I did some tests two-three patches ago, trying to find if wings bending was present and we have the "aileron reversal" effect modelled ingame. My conclussions were that no bending is modelled, from a FM point of view. Graphically I dont know because I dont care too much. This test was in a 109.

You can't possibly get to the point of aileron reversal. AR means that the wings twist so much from the force that they start to act like huge ailerons and start to roll in the opposite direction. But this occurs at only such high speeds, well above diving limits, that is not a concern. The Spitfire, which had a relatively low - compared to other fighters - calculated AR point of about 510 mph IAS iirc, at which airspeed it is supposed to roll in the opposite direction. The reason for that was the wing's structural design, which wasn't very stiff. But that wasn't that much a problem since the plane was limited at around 450 mph IAS in dives.. iow, you were beyond the safety limit when this happened.

But since AR is not a on/off function but sets in gradually, its a good indicator of how high speed (negatively) effects the rate of roll.