REFLECTOR: Leveling the plane

Jim Sower canarder at frontiernet.net
Thu Jun 16 22:09:45 CDT 2005


I really didn't intend to stir up all this fuss and bother.  I'd thought 
that perhaps I was missing some simple reference.  Evidently I wasn't.  
All I wanted was a reliable, convenient access to the FRP.  There 
doesn't seem to be one (perhaps it's just me being anal about this, but 
I don't regard wing templates that don't seem to fit all that well, 
using levels that seem to have come out of a box of Cracker Jacks, as 
reliable OR convenient).  My needs are modest:  Being overpropped by 
about 200 rpm on my IO360 (that's on me and I'm in the process of 
addressing it) and routinely 70 - 80# over the 400# front seat limit 
(I'm addressing that too, but it takes more time :o) I find myself in a 
marginal - if not plumb dicey - takeoff situation much of the time.  I'm 
beginning to realize that fuselage attitude is trivial and that wing and 
canard incidence is what I'm actually interested in.  I've been spoiled 
by my EZ with its clearcut, simple canopy rail references.

I'm looking for a reliable indication of my ground attitude (most 
particularly canard AoA) so that I can quantify whether and by how much 
I have to overcome a negative AoA in order to rotate.  It would be nice 
to know if, and by how much I might benefit by extracting my nose strut 
from all that structure (not a trivial task) and straightening it out a 
little to get cocked up enough to make rotation a little easier.

Of course I could replace my sorry-assed Lyc with a 230 hp rotary, but 
that would involve rewiring pretty much the whole Switch/CB panel and be 
a MAJOR task by any standard.

Guess I need to revisit my actual needs in terms of available resources 
... Jim S.

Scott Derrick wrote:

> I built my gauge, at the time didn't know the factory had pre-built 
> ones..
>
> NMFlyer1 at aol.com wrote:
>
>> I had an odd thing happen with my wing incidence guage. After I built 
>> my wings, when I was getting ready to attach them to the plane I 
>> noticed that the incidence guage was warped.
>>  
>> I called the factory and asked if I could buy a new one. They said 
>> yes, but told me that many of them do that and it would still be 
>> accurate. I asked them to pacify me and send another anyway, which 
>> they did.
>>  
>> Once the new incidence guage showed up, I was a bit confused. They 
>> were not the same size. One of them was about 2" longer than the 
>> other. I called the factory and talked to Mark M. to find out what 
>> was up. ( I thought one of them may be for the small wing, another 
>> for the large wing). He had me measure them and then things got 
>> really strange.
>> My origonal wing jig was not the right size for anything! Mark said 
>> he really didnt know how that could happen, as they have a jig they 
>> build them in. It was determined that the new one was correct. I am 
>> glad I was anal enough to want to replace the warped jig because the 
>> origonal one would have been wrong.
>>  
>> I appreciate the factory humoring me on my first call and sending the 
>> jig anyway. They also did not charge me for the new jig.
>>  
>> So, if you have a bad feeling that a jig or piece is incorrect... 
>> follow through. It just might be something is not right.
>>  
>> Kurt
>>
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