REFLECTOR: Ailerons

[David Ullman]

I am still struggling with the ailerons.  Scott has spent much time on the
phone with me and I appreciate this factory support.  I have torn out the
push pull cables and rerouted them making the angle to the control horns
near 90deg and relaxing radius of the cable bend.  I have virtually no slop
in the system .  The trim system still cant move them and there is still
more friction than I would like on the stick.  It is much, much less than
when I started and a flight test will tell if this is good enough(my test
pilot is on vacation).  Any other ideas are appreciated or comments on
aileron stiffness.

One problem came out that I haven't fixed is that I have aluminum torque
tubes on the ailerons.  These came with the kit.  The factory now uses
steel.  I calculated the difference in stiffness between a .035 steel and
the .06 aluminum tube and it is a factor of 2.0  Statically, I don't think
that a pilot could feel the difference in the resulting stiffness.  But, my
test pilot is worried about flutter.  He has experienced this twice in Reno
racer development and both had aluminum torque tubes. Should I swap these
out before it flies again., or can it wait until I take the plane apart for
painting in a year?

Happy new year to all and I may get to fly in 2012 (I said that last year
also).

David Ullman
N-444DX Velocity 
EAA 292 President
david at davidullman.com
541-754-3609

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