Should jets explode?

[Treetop64]

Originally Posted by Fearfactor

...then your 262 should never explode after it catches on fire. It should burn like crazy but not explode....I'm starting this debate, please post your opinion if you care to.

Well, the upper wing surfaces of many Yak-9s weren't supposed to peel off in flight. They should stay tightly glued to the wing structure like crazy, not peel off. But they did peel off. The obvious culprit would be the quality of the glue bonding the wing skin to the structure. Turned out that the camouflage paint on the wings contained an unauthorized substitute ingredient that interacted negatively with the glue, which BTW was applied correctly. In the meantime, the wing structure was redesigned and strengthened. The point is that just because something shouldn't happen in a design doesn't mean that it won't, and the cause isn't always the most obvious one.

You started this "debate", and I'm caring to post my opinion, so don't go flaming me for taking up your invitation.