REFLECTOR: STICK & RUDDER

[Keith Hallsten]

Tom,

 

I tend toward perfectionism, so I think you should get your plane trimmed
out to fly straight hands-off.  You may be down to very thin shims at the
wing bolts or just slightly more shimming of the right rudder.

 

Attached is an article that Mike Melvill wrote for the "Canard Pusher"
newsletter a few years ago regarding trimming out a Long-EZ.  It's generally
applicable to Velocities, too.

 

Keith Hallsten

 

 

  _____  

From: reflector-bounces at tvbf.org [mailto:reflector-bounces at tvbf.org] On
Behalf Of Tom Martino
Sent: Sunday, March 25, 2007 9:50 PM
To: Velocity List
Subject: REFLECTOR: STICK & RUDDER

 

At first I thought it was just the weather, or maybe an uneven fuel load .
but I can no longer deny it.  My plane still yaws a bit to the left (which
means I have to touch the right rudder to make it fly perfectly straight).
So I have the following questions and would like those with more experience
to answer:

 

1.	The ball is only a tiny bit out of center and I can get speeds of
200 KTAS or more . so should I leave the damn thing alone?
2.	The plane is almost perfect ... so should I make it fly perfectly?

 

I should also make these observations:

 

--I already shimmed the wings with washers several hours ago - which helped
a lot . but there is still a slight yaw,

--I also shimmed the right rudder out a bit (right after I did the wing) .
it seemed near perfect . but still a tiny yaw.

--When I am at higher speeds (170+ TKAS) and make a hard right turn with
full right rudder . the right rudder will flutter a bit.

--When turning left at the same speed . no flutter at all.  Is this because
I shimmed the right rudder out a bit to begin with?

 

ANY AND ALL COMMENTS APPRECIATED.

 

I have taken a lot of time to make this an exceptional bird . am I going too
far?  

 

Tom Martino

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