Mass balance
- Control surfaces are often balanced in quite a different sense. A mass is fitted in front of the hinge. This is partly to provide a mechanical balancing of the mass of the control surface behind the hinge but may also be partly to help prevent an effect known as ‘flutter’ which is liable to occur at high speeds
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- When the old types of aerodynamic balance were used, e.g. the inset hinge or horn balance, the mass could be concealed inside the forward a portion of the control surface and thus two birds were killed with one stone; but when the tap type of balance is used alone the mass must be placed on a special arm sticking out in front of the control surface.
- It may help to make this clear if we realize that mass balance is just as effective on a rudder, where the weight is not involved, as on an elevator or aileron. On old military biplane aircraft, the exact distribution of mass on the control surfaces was so important that strict orders had to be introduced concerning the application of paint and dope to these surfaces.
- It is for this reason that the red, white, and blue stripes which used to be painted on the rudders of Royal Air Force machines were removed (they were later restored, but only on the fixed fin), and why the circles on the wings were not allowed to overlap the ailerons.
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