Comments by "Mike Armstrong" (@mikearmstrong8483) on "The Vickers Wellesley – Unheralded Hero of a Forgotten War" video.

The disadvantage of a geodesic airframe is that it cannot support a stressed metal skin and must be fabric covered. Thus, you will never be able to develop an aircraft that can exceed about 250 mph max. And that is obviously a serious impediment once you get past the mid 1930s. On the positive side, it could absorb a lot of damage.
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I'm not an engineer, so I don't know exactly why that is, but I have read it in many reputable sources, including documentaries about Barnes-Wallis, and apparently he readily admitted it. As for racing planes, they were fabric covered in the rear but metal in the front, and didn't use the geodesic construction. My guess (and only that) is that the framework couldn't stand the pressure of stressed metal skin, and the fabric wouldn't cover the basket weave smoothly enough to withstand the air pressure of higher speeds.
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@anzaca1 The Latecoere 6 was a failed single prototype that barely made 120 mph. While it did have a metal skin, I'm not sure it was a stressed skin, which would have been necessary for any higher speeds.
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@WALTERBROADDUS I took you up on the challenge, and I've been looking up the racing planes of the 1930s. Any one that I could find online, that approached or exceeded 200 mph, had plywood or metal skin. The sole exception I found that specifically indicated it had partial fabric covering was the Granville Brothers (Gee Bee) R6, which did 295 mph. And according to aviation historian and author Walter Boyne, it never finished a race it was in.
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@gordoncroft4524 You are correct, but it was not of geodesic construction. There were certainty many planes that went faster than 250 that had fabric skins, but we are discussing the merits of geodesic construction, as mentioned in the video, and my original comment was that geodesic construction with a fabric skin was limited to about 250. Looking back, I see I have been unclear in my comments so far; I think I implied that no plane could exceed 250 with a fabric skin, but actually I am only referring to those with geodesic structures.
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@JohnyG29 The Windsor did not have a fabric coating, nor did it have a stressed metal skin. It was covered with a fine wire mesh coated in plastic. That was probably the only way to get one up to that speed, but that was a very inefficient manufacturing process.
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@givenfirstnamefamilyfirstn3935 The B-29 did not have fabric covered control surfaces. I believe your source material is in error.
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@givenfirstnamefamilyfirstn3935 I don't have to look at a photo; I have looked at it with my own eyes from standing next to a B-29. I've seen the surfaces myself from a few yards away. The ribbed surfaces are still metal skinned. Just like the rudder of an A-4 Skyhawk, which looks in a photo like fabric but obviously isn't. Also, in 50 years of studying military aviation (because I was a military flyer) I have never seen any reference to fabric covering on any part of a B-29, because there were no US combat aircraft being built with fabric covering since before the B-29 ever flew. But I'll humor you. Please tell me any references you can find that say a B-29 had fabric covering anywhere on it.
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@givenfirstnamefamilyfirstn3935 The only dope here is you. I hate having to put up with idiot amateurs that think they can get a real education by watching a YouTube video. Go look at a B-29 yourself, fool. Spend a few decades studying military aircraft and flying on them. There are no fabric surfaces anywhere on a B-29. Go to any REAL source of information about them. Your idea that you can tell what a material is by looking at it from a distance on a YouTube video is ridiculously laughable.
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@givenfirstnamefamilyfirstn3935 You proved yourself wrong with that one. There is a nice bird's nest in a tail turret, there are lots of aileron and rudder ribs exposed from the skin removed, but their is no fabric hanging off anywhere. You just can't get a clue. You DO NOT learn everything by watching YouTube or playing war thunder. Learn how to read a book. Learn how to do actual real research.
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@givenfirstnamefamilyfirstn3935 You started the offense with your smartass remark about being perfect, child. Now, there are 24 surviving B-29s in this country. They are spread all over, so it's no difficulty to go see one. They are of all metal construction. Including the control surfaces. Always were.
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And when you have 2500 flight hours in combat aircraft (NOT on a video game) then come talk about your expertise, Mr. YouTube Professor.
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