"Ed Huntress" wrote in message
...

"cavelamb himself" wrote in message
...
George wrote:

cavelamb himself wrote:

Americas Cub 1995
Australia One

http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/media/08/0310/


Now that gives cause to ponder, aircraft thought to be light and
unbreakable, Boeing comes to mind?????

George

Lot's of people think that.
Aircraft are unbreakable only when opperated within prescribed
limits.
Beyond that the are guar-on-teed to bust.

America's Cup racers have to be as light as possible for performance.
Looks like this one was just a bit TOO light.

Richard

Yeah. And we tend to overestimate how strong carbon fiber is. On the
average, it's only 10% or so stronger than S-fiberglass. Its big
advantage over other composites is its stiffness, not its strength.

--
Ed Huntress


Yeah. Check page 51 on this document.
http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/2004/AAR0404.pdf