REFLECTOR: 4th test flight - roll tendency persists

Geoff Gerhardt geoff.gerhardt at gmail.com
Sat Aug 25 06:37:37 CDT 2012


Alex/Steve,

That was my first thought, too, but in order to get it to fly level,
pressure on the stick is needed to keep the ailerons to neutral.  If I let
the stick go, the left aileron wants to come up, right goes down.  If it
were a wing shimming issue, I'd expect that the ailerons would need to be
pushed into a non-neutral position to counteract the effect of improperly
aligned wings.

Before flying the plane, my ailerons were positioned so that the trailing
edges were level with the wings.  After the third flight when I noticed
this left roll tendency, I adjusted them so they drooped ~1/8".  I think it
helped a little, but did not eliminate the left roll tendency.

Geoff

On Fri, Aug 24, 2012 at 10:12 PM, Alex Balic <velocity_pilot at verizon.net>wrote:

> Possibly the wings need shimming****
>
> ** **
>
> *From:* reflector-bounces at tvbf.org [mailto:reflector-bounces at tvbf.org] *On
> Behalf Of *Geoff Gerhardt
> *Sent:* Friday, August 24, 2012 7:38 PM
> *To:* Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list
>
> *Subject:* REFLECTOR: 4th test flight - roll tendency persists****
>
> ** **
>
> Guys,****
>
> ** **
>
> I went on my fourth test flight this afternoon.  Still have butterflies
> before the flight and check things over like I have OCD (yes, the canard
> bolts are still there, for the fourth time...).  ****
>
> ** **
>
> Dealing with a few issues now that I've left the pattern and brought it up
> to speed.  I noticed on the third flight that it wants to roll to the left.
>  This is not a yaw (ball's in the center), but a definite roll that
> requires right pressure on the stick to fly level at 140kts (more pressure
> for higher speed).  Aileron trim isn't enough to take it out.  On that
> third flight, when I was flying level at 140ks by using right stick
> pressure, when I looked back I could see that the trailing edges of both
> ailerons were a little higher than the wing.  So, before the fourth flight,
> I drooped both down so they were ~1/8" below the wing (they were level
> before at rest), but this did not have much effect on the roll tendency
> (although the ailerons were level or drooping at speed).  It definitely
> seems to be an aileron issue.  When I'm flying level (using right stick
> pressure), the ailerons seem to be in an equal position.  Letting the stick
> go, the right aileron comes up, left down and it rolls.  Any other ideas on
> things to check?****
>
> ** **
>
> Slow flight went very well, nice control down to 60kts.  Easy 180 turn,
> then back the other way holding altitude.****
>
> ** **
>
> Geoff****
>
> ** **
>
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