Why do some Sukhois have angled tail tips and others don't?
Posted by imjustchillin-_-@reddit | aviation | View on Reddit | 31 comments
(SU-35S and SU-37)
Posted by imjustchillin-_-@reddit | aviation | View on Reddit | 31 comments
(SU-35S and SU-37)
A-12Cygnus@reddit
Originally the pre-production Su-27s had straight tips. However they'd suffer from flutter and actually caused some crashes. They tried fixing the problem with weights, but it didn't help much and the tips had to be cut off at an angle, which did fix it. Coincidentally the pre-production F-15s also had that problem on their wings, and McDonnell applied the same solution, cutting off the edge at an angle.
One of the changes that the Su-27M had over the regular Su-27 is the rudder. It was taller, and housed a small fuel tank. Why are the tips straight? To be honest I don't know, but given they are I assume they don't have the flutter issue of the early Flanker rudder. They are structurally different, and the higher aspect ratio may have fixed the problem on its own. Furthermore, the rear fuselage on the Su-27M was strenghened, however I don't know if it affected the rudder, from what I know all it did was increase max permitted G load from 8 to 9.
mulymule@reddit
I love that essential chopping bits off of aerofoils extends even to jet engines, problems with blade flutter or funky areomech problems? Just chop the tip. Worked on this as a mod to an engine before. Some specialists said ‘if we even find a problem like this, easiest fix is to hack some of the blade of somewhere
derekcentrico@reddit
Chopping off the tip has been around for millennia.
keyboard_pilot@reddit
Underrated comment. Overrated practice.
Chopping the aerofoil tip is just like a poor man's raked tip
lpvishnu@reddit
Stage 15 of the LM2500 HPC has a chopped trailing edge tip. Not sure if this change made its way to the CF6-50.
1ThousandDollarBill@reddit
Why and how do you know this? This knowledge seems so obscure that I don’t know how you run upon this information
HB_Stratos@reddit
Interesting. I wonder though, why does cutting off the tip reduce flutter?
WesternBlueRanger@reddit
It's also one of the visual differentiation between the two factories that build the various Flanker variants for the Su-30 variant.
Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Plant (KnAAPO) aircraft have a straight tail tip, whilst Irkut aircraft have a straight tail tip.
ABoutDeSouffle@reddit
Wait...
classyhornythrowaway@reddit
I would revise that last sentence if I were you haha
CounterSimple3771@reddit
Came here to say aluminum shortage but your answer is real. Damn.
Planeandaquariumgeek@reddit
Correction, the SU-35/27M strengthening increased the max G load from 9-10
Areallywierdusername@reddit
I’d imagine that the cut rudders had a lighter construction, whereas the straight rudder with the fuel tank had to get some extra supports.
Man that’s more or less what you said…
apocalyptia21@reddit
if you look closely, Su-30s have different tail tips among themselves (Su-30MKI/SM vs. MKK/M2)
Astertisa@reddit
Haha, angled frosted tips? Totally channeling my inner 90s heartthrob.
miamigrape93@reddit
Not today Department of Defense.
CRS1955@reddit
On a related vein, I found this article interesting! https://nationalsecurityjournal.org/russias-su-35-super-flanker-fighter-in-ukraine-just-wont-stop-falling-out-of-the-sky/
starkruzr@reddit
just the vet marking that they were spayed/neutered before being released back into the wild.
Accomplished-One7476@reddit
🤣🤣🤣
Accomplished-One7476@reddit
chicks dig angled tips /s
Tojuro@reddit
Angled frosted tips were huge in the late 90s
Swimming-ln-Circles@reddit
That's why I always tip 90 cents. Just trying to do what's right
NoSolution7708@reddit
Totally normal behaviour
JVM_@reddit
Flew too close to the sun
PsychologicalGlass47@reddit
Su-35S has it to mitigate flutter from vortices.
Su-37 (and some Su-35 airframes as well as Su-30MKK which is based on them) have them to increase fuel load, as the vertical stabilizers hold fuel tanks.
The flutter issue went away largely because of that extra weight in the larger vertical stabilizers.
Zwaylol@reddit
Guy in charge of sawing them into shape liked drinking on the job.
HoleInWon929@reddit
Is it just the angle of the photos?
UnableSoftware1145@reddit
UnableSoftware1145@reddit
Actually a very good question for once.
NukeRocketScientist@reddit
The clipped ones come from Europe and the unclipped ones comes from Asia.
In actuality it was probably for optimization or to counteract aeroelastic flutter or something like that.
Strega007@reddit
There are several other Reddit threads on this.
https://www.reddit.com/r/aviation/comments/vhz72r/why_is_the_top_of_the_tail_angled_on_some/
https://www.reddit.com/r/aviation/comments/18kot4w/is_there_a_particular_reason_as_to_why_this_shape/