REFLECTOR: RE: FINALLY SOME TRUE DATA -- NOW WHAT

[Alex Balic]

Tom,
The drag from the wheels, nose castor assy, ect would tend to straighten
it out below flying speed - the plane will try to roll in the same
direction that it was flying prior to touchdown- you can see this if you
ever land in a noticeable crab- it will straighten out when the mains
make contact - I would think that if you still needed rudder on a no
cross wind roll, then it would be very difficult to fly.  Not sure
exactly how much rudder you are using to keep it flying straight, but
your reference to "a lot" would seem to indicate it is much more than
normal- whatever amount you are using with your foot is what you will
need to shim to keep it straight without your foot- if it is more than a
few degrees, your winglets are probably out of rig- really check your
winglet angles (to the CL of the aircraft, not to the ground) -  - I
noticed that in the manual, not too much stress is put on the set up if
the angles of attack on the winglets during construction, which I
believe is the cause of more than one "slow" velocity, because if both
winglets are at too high of an angle of attack, but balanced, (ball
centered) then they will cause a significant amount of drag, if one or
both is out of line, then the plane will crab and also cause a
significant amount of drag- shimming the rudder helps this, but also
with an associated drag penalty. I was really extra careful about these
angles during construction, but still, I placed the winglets when the
wings were off of the aircraft ( as just about everyone does ), and that
in itself would reduce accuracy, I have checked them since getting the
wings on, and they still look good, but only getting airborne will tell
me for sure... 
-----Original Message-----
From: reflector-bounces at tvbf.org [mailto:reflector-bounces at tvbf.org] On
Behalf Of Tom Martino
Sent: Monday, May 16, 2005 8:36 PM
To: Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list
Subject: RE: REFLECTOR: RE: FINALLY SOME TRUE DATA -- NOW WHAT
 
But wouldn't it still require some left rudder to keep in straight down
the runway?  If the yaw was off?
 
-----Original Message-----
From: reflector-bounces at tvbf.org [mailto:reflector-bounces at tvbf.org] On
Behalf Of Alex Balic
Sent: Monday, May 16, 2005 6:35 PM
To: 'Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list'
Subject: REFLECTOR: RE: FINALLY SOME TRUE DATA -- NOW WHAT
 
Tom,
The plane tracks properly on the ground because it is on the ground, and
the wheels are causing it to track properly even at high speed- it would
seem that the winglets are a little bit off to me- probably both in the
same direction- this is what is causing you to fly crabbed- if the wings
were out of rig, then you would tend to roll- P factor wouldn't require
almost full rudder to correct in level flight...
 
-----Original Message-----
From: Tom Martino [mailto:reflector-bounces at tvbf.org] On Behalf Of Tom
Martino
Sent: Monday, May 16, 2005 7:28 PM
To: reflector at www.tvbf.org
Subject: FINALLY SOME TRUE DATA -- NOW WHAT
 
Ok . if I let my plane fly the way it wants, with wings level . the
"ball" is way off to the left (on the ground it is neutral) and the left
wing wants to bank . making a slight turn to the right.
 
To get the nose perfectly straight it requires a LOT of left rudder.
Then the plane flees without any turning or banking tendencies.
I don't think any vertical surfaces (winglets or rudders) are out of rig
because at high speed ground roll (landing and taking off) the plane
tracks perfectly.  It is only when lift is developed that the "ball out
of center" phenomenon starts.
 
The trim tab did not help much and was removed.
 
I believe I need to decrease the angle of attack on my left wing to
correct the problem.
 
When I checked incidence . they were right on.
 
By the way . does "P" factor cause some of this problem?  If the left
side of my prop (as viewed from behind) develop more thrust . wouldn't
that cause the plane to fly off to the right?
 
I examined my engine mount and it is not canted to cancel out the "P"
factor.  
 
Any thoughts?
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