These guys are nuts!

[Arefbee]

B52's actually have pre-wrinkled skins since the whole device flexes. They even have small wheels on the wing tips. I heard (have not verified on the web) that the wings have 12 feet of "flap" at the tips.

Now, metal fatigue is an issue and they do check for it during inspections. Generally it becomes visible before it becomes an issue with the exterior parts. It actually is far more likely for fatigue to affect the engines since heat is a much larger component.
Fuselage and wings are more like the leaf springs. They use alloys (and now-a-days composites) that cant take a lot of cycles before the material fails.

And if God had wanted man to fly, he would have given him more money!

[B47]

Originally Posted by Arefbee

B52's actually have pre-wrinkled skins since the whole device flexes. They even have small wheels on the wing tips. I heard (have not verified on the web) that the wings have 12 feet of "flap" at the tips.

Now, metal fatigue is an issue and they do check for it during inspections. Generally it becomes visible before it becomes an issue with the exterior parts. It actually is far more likely for fatigue to affect the engines since heat is a much larger component.
Fuselage and wings are more like the leaf springs. They use alloys (and now-a-days composites) that cant take a lot of cycles before the material fails.

And if God had wanted man to fly, he would have given him more money!

Prettry much right on - that "pre-wrinkled" areas you see is called "oil canning" in the field.

[Phil57]

Originally Posted by B47

Nuts? Maybe,but those airplanes have to establish a "Demostrated Crosswind Component" before they can be certified by the FAA - ref 14 CFR 25.237 (a).



Basically this means that an airplane manufacturer has to establish a minimum "Demostrated" crosswind speed that it shown during certification that the airplane can safety land in. It's not a "maximum" cross wind speed and a pilot is not limited to abide to it.



In summary, the decision to land in a crosswind is left up to the Pilot In Command.



Looks like some very good piloting here.

As I recall in my 172 it was listed as a maximum crosswind and again if I remember correctly it was 17 knots. I do know that as PIC if I crashed in a 20 knot crosswind the accident would be listed as pilot error. Nothing new as almost all accident reports blame the pilot. I haven't flown since 2006 so I my be misremembering.


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