Any modern aircraft control surface diagrams/pics...

[seawasp]

... which show how (A) the rudder/aileron/elevator is constructed externally and internally, and how exactly that component is attached to the aircraft, would be of help. This is for a project we're working on. While, apparently, the office in question has gotten approval to send us diagrams for the actual aircraft of interest, the PAPERWORK hasn't gotten done, and time is getting short.

I've been doing some online searches but either my Google-fu is WEAK!!! or nothing is out there. Right now I'd take anything from a reasonably modern jet aircraft, preferably a fighter or something like it, but I'll settle even for a commercial jet.

The project is for monitoring key stress points on these control surfaces, so what I'm most interested in are the attachment points and other areas which will be bearing the stress when the surface is in use.

Comments

[sub-musashi.livejournal.com]

Maybe check the patent office?

[seawasp]

Good idea, but so far I find a few very strange looking aircraft designs (one looks like something out of Jonny Quest) and few if any details of the sort I'm looking for. I don't want really old patents (like from the 60s or before) because I have no idea if those designs are still valid in modern aircraft.

[keithmm.livejournal.com]

Structural designs in aircraft are actually very conservative: there are differences in materials, but the basic elements should be similar to what's been out there a while.

Also, unless you are dealing with bleeding edge jets, remember they've usually been around for a while. The F-15 design was approved in 1969, the F/A-18 and the Super Hornet are derived from a design dated early 1965, the first prototype that led to the F-117 flew in 1975, and so on.

[kira-snugz.livejournal.com]

i have images of the wings and tail thingy on a tudor jet if you want. We got to get really really close to one after their last training flight here in the spring. and i have access to a large exhibit of planes that includes 3 or 4 different jets.

http://www.box.net/shared/sgl0tbglxl

[laptop-mechanic.livejournal.com]

Here's an F-86H without it's clothes on:

http://pics.livejournal.com/laptop_mechanic/pic/002560xk

[seawasp]

Alas... the parts I'm looking for aren't really visible.

[laptop-mechanic.livejournal.com]

There are some more shots of that one in the same gallery:

http://pics.livejournal.com/laptop_mechanic/gallery/0003bxdz

[seawasp]

Am I blind? I only see the one skin-off shot (well, there's one more of what appears to be a biplane), and I looked through the whole gallery.

I certainly accept the possibility I'm blind.

[laptop-mechanic.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Okay, maybe there arent any. I know I took more than one pic of that plane. I'll check the directory when I get home and see if there are any more there.

[laptop-mechanic.livejournal.com]

My wife put all of the shots up on her flickr stream here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/taiaselene/sets/72157615126828102/

[seawasp]

There's a couple there that *might* just help. Thanks!

Of possible help...

[niall-shapero.livejournal.com]

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=aircraft+control+surfaces&rlz=1R2GGIE_en&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=a5eDSpOpCYOgswOy9byYBw&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4

Should get you to the Google Images page with lots of control surface pictures. The search words were "aircraft control surfaces".

A bit of background material at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_flight_control_systems

A little bit about structural design at:
http://adg.stanford.edu/aa241/structures/structuraldesign.html

Is this for a literary project (iceberg time) or is it an engineering project?

Re: Of possible help...

[seawasp]

It's for both, in a sense -- technical proposals and work for a specific government project.

What I'm trying to find out is how (for example) the rudder, elevators, and/or ailerons are constructed internally, and specifically how they are fastened to the aircraft and controlled.

From what I can see, they're attached by two or more points to a bar of metal that's the rotating part of a hinge -- basically, they're like a little door, and the attachment points are the places where the hinges attach. What I don't know is how they're constructed internally, whether that's empty air or foam or what inside, etc., and whether they're generally covered by something when in use. Also whether they're closed metal boxes with just the attachment points to the bar sticking out, or not.