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Art Bianconi
Post Laureate
Reged: 03/06/06
Posts: 4659
Loc: Delaware River Valley, New Jer...
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Re: Strut Refractor
01/23/08 09:39 AM
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The questions you've asked are appropriate. As with all "features", the cost of creating them has to be balanced against the benefits they provide.
I know an aircraft builder who built a lovely fabric covered biplane, a Steen Sky-bolt. He spent almost 20 years on that project.
What made his project notable was his fanatical devotion to lightening holes everywhere. It took him almost six months to build the horizontal stabilizer which was all sheet metal ribs and a steel tubing frame.
His devotion to drilling lightening holes in everything was apparent in the stabilizer. The drilling process turned it into a work of art that was only appreciated while it was bare. When covered with fabric, doped and painted, no one would see it. Drilling took him an additional 5 weeks. The weight savings? 14 ounces on a plane that weighs in excess of 1200 pounds!
The difference in weight provided by a drilled tube in an OTA is not likely going to be noticed unless of course, it is to be lifted into a planetary orbit around Saturn by NASA.
While the concept has some merit, it's likely that the idea would be abandoned in favor of an open truss which would have the additional advantage of being lighter, more compact for travel and offer collimation alternatives.
Don't let this response discourage you from thinking about such things. A curious mind that is looking for alternative solutions is a precious thing.
I urge you to keep doing it. Look at Thomas Edison!
Art
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“Everything is on its way to somewhere. . . . . everything!"
____________________ George Malley (John Travolta)
________________________ "Phenomenon"
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