Balsamo Busted, again [View all]

[William Seger]

Rob Balsamo continues to insist there is no margin of safety beyond Vd/Md (Design Dive Velocity), and as "proof" he has presented several versions of Vg (velocity/g-load) diagrams with a red wall at Vne (Never Exceed Velocity). My contention is that the conditions in FAR 25.305 are limit cases, not ultimate, and therefore a factor of safety is required for ALL stresses at those speeds. Balsamo has not been satisfied that the FAA and engineers on two professional forums agree with that; he persists in asserting that planes are designed according to his own misconceptions and faulty definitions.

However, here is a similar diagram, but from a structural engineering perspective, i.e. when a 1.5 factor of safety (yellow) is included for ALL loads that planes must withstand, not just the g-loads shown on a Vg diagram:



http://aerostudents.com/files/aircraftStressAnalysisAndStructuralDesign/reader.pdf

There in yellow, past the Vne, is the margin of safety that Balsamo asserts doesn't exist.