Rudder deflection

[DAlexan424@aol.com]

Hi all,

Thanks to all that answered my inquiry as to the amount of rudder travel
needed. The question came to mind as I couldn't find anything in the manual
(once again it was buried in an obscure area) and resorted to asking for real
world numbers. Alan at Dynamic stated that his rudders were set-up for 30
degrees of deflection, Kurt Winkler has approx. 45. I have modified my rudder
set-up for the internal horns and wanted to be sure that I had enough and with
such differing numbers, I wanted to be sure that I was going to be ok with 25
degrees, which is about all that one can expect with the internal rudder horns
as built in the appendex.

I called Dwayne to get the inside scoop. I had already "bothered" Mark at V
West enough (trying to spread my simpleton questions out a little). Dwayne
stated that one concern that Rutan originally had with too much rudder travel
was related to how the winglet would act in a slip to landing in a cross-wind
situation. Rutan believed that the angle of attack on the downwind winglet
could reach such an extreme amount with a lot of rudder being used as to stall
the winglet and cause a rapid roll into the cross-wind due to the aileron
(cross controlled). Rutan felt that it would be wise to limit the rudder to
the point that the winglet couldn't stall in such a situation.

Dwayne was kind enough to look into one of the older manuals and find the
adjustment proceedure for the brake/rudder pick-up point. Once I saw what it
looked like I found it in my manual. In the 173 RGE manual under Final
Assembly, Section 20.2.7 Rudder Pedals, Cables, Brakes, the proper deflection
is stated as being 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 inches as measured from the trailing edge of
the rudder to the trailing edge of the winglet. I haven't done the math yet,
but I think I can make that with the internal horns.

Thanks for the help everybody...

Dale Alexander
173 RGE