Quote:
Originally Posted by Montana Man
Actually, there was a time when it was widely known to use steel wheels instead of aluminum. Remember the aluminum Cragar and the steel Appliance wheels? Same basic look but Cragars were known to fracture. I personally watched two Cragars do just that.
As a previous aircraft mechanic, I've seen plenty of aluminum used in critical components. However, never welded in high stress locations. I like the concept of the Anderson but going from my personal "feel" of it's design, I think it is under fabricated. They are fine for the most part but if I had to get into a crash and could choose the hitch to crash with, it wouldn't be an Anderson.
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"Actually, there was a time when it was widely known to use steel wheels instead of aluminum" - yes that supports my point exactly. At one point it was felt that aluminum rims were not up to the task and some models did have failures. But after enough time, now everyone runs aluminum rims without concern.
I appreciate you sharing your experience in aviation. And, certainly welding aluminum weakens the material. But, that does not mean it automatically dismisses the solution. For example, many enthusiasts with track cars have successfully used welded aluminum drive shafts; obviously a high stress and critical area with potential for much damage and injury if it failed.
To be clear; I'm not pretending to be expert at the design or construction of the AUH and you may be right in your assessment. However, I am suggesting that all such "theories" as to whether the AUH is inherently good or bad are just that, theories.
When looking at the data though, this is a solution that has worked well on a sample size of a few 10s of thousands with very few failures. I find it hard to dismiss that data.
Brad