I doubt whether an aircraft would hit as many potholes though... ;)

Suprisingly strong for the hammer they take considering the dimensions of the parts they are fitted to and the size of the fixings they use.

Personal experience of clattering onto a runway at 80 knots with all three wheels at once and near flattening the oleo's

Saw the rotor head removed from local plod helicopter and it was with a few "Jesus" bolts,youv'e guessed it. Jesus, is that all that holds that on !

On Page 53 of the second edition of Ron Champion's Locost book, he is shown holding an aluminum chassis up in the air. He wants us to think he is very strong, so he doesn't admit he is cheating.

My brother is currently building an all-aluminium light aircraft (a Van's RV-4) - it's scary to see how flimsy each component is, and amazing to see how rigid the parts become when riveted together. Each fuselage & wing part is made of 1.0 - 1.5mm sheet aluminium alloy.

He will end up with a 200mph 2-seater aircraft that weighs over 200kg less than my Locost... :eek:

Some ruskie pilot landed one of our corporate jets with the tail a bit close to the runway and scraped the tail end. Its now being braced up and brought back to the uk for us to fit new skins, keel section of engine beam frame and then back into the air.

Another problem to be aware off is the wishbone bush bolts going through aluminium brackets, or steel tube and aluminium together causing different metal electrolysis.
The Robin Hood lightweight was an ally monocoque designed as a one season race car, it needed a Hugh amount of re-engineering just to be strong enough to pass IVA.
A well designed steel chassis built with the lightest bits can be around 400Kg