On 10-May-2004, ospam (MBOSCHERT) wrote:

Not true! Canards are not rudders they are wings providing lift. They prodive
stability holding the nose up. They are set to loose lift at an angle slightly
less then the main wing. That way when the nose comes up lift is lost and the
nose comes back down. This helps keep the plane more stable not less. Also
the plane is less likely to stall. No computers in those little one and two
seaters from Rutan.

What happens when the canard loses lift first in level flight? Then the nose
dives and keeps diving. Nice that it prevents a stall, but most aircraft rely
on the horizontal stabilizer to force the nose up. Loss of lift puts the plane
into a dive from which it recovers by increasing speed and a return to a downward
force from the H stab. That doesn't happen with a canard.

Are Rutan's canards fixed or variable? If you look at an aircraft like the Viggen,
then you're looking at a canard that can seriously destabilize an aircraft. That
gives it maneouverability under control.

http://www.rutanaircraft.com/

"We'll be adding more information about the planes soon."

References to content-free web sites are not particularly useful.

Mike