08 April 2008

B-2 Center of Gravity Seen as Likely Cause of Crash

As with any flying wing, the moment arm for the controls is fairly short, so maintaining the CG within the proper range is crucial to controllability.

Actually, it's not just flying wings. The first B-1 crash happened because the CG was too far aft, because the fuel was not properly distributed.

Well, investigators are now examining the fuel management system or other issues involving the CG of the aircraft. (Paid sub reqd)

The report (a short blurb really) says that the , "bomber rotated prematurely, lifted off too early and stalled".

According to a former B-2 pilot, "“One of these things we always worried about on ferry missions is that you have a lot more fuel on board than on training or operational missions. So CG can play a role. You have to make sure you don’t overcontrol on takeoff because that’s easy to do with an aft CG in a fully loaded configuration."

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