REFLECTOR: Pitch Trim Mystery

steve korney s_korney at hotmail.com
Thu Feb 16 19:59:42 CST 2006


That sounds like a lot of trim John...  I have a std. Velocity with 
IO-360...  At 170 kts I have about 1/2 to 5/8 inches of up elevator  in 
cruise...

Best... Steve



----Original Message Follows----
From: John Dibble <aminetech at bluefrog.com>
Reply-To: Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list <reflector at tvbf.org>
To: Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list <reflector at tvbf.org>
Subject: Re: REFLECTOR: Pitch Trim Mystery
Date: Thu, 16 Feb 2006 15:55:36 -0600

I think the need for down trim is just a function of cg and speed.  Since 
I'm at my
aft cg limit (actually beyond the limit according to the standard Velocity
calculations), I will need more trim than if I was not so aft cg.  My guess 
is I have
about 2" elevator up at cruise.

John

Alex Balic wrote:

 > Hmmm, Well, probably a good idea to keep the incidence as is then, but I
 > think that it is a bit unusual for you to need so much down trim in 
cruise-
 > maybe a smaller/no strainer would work best for you- how much actual up
 > elevator do you have at top cruise?
 >
 > -----Original Message-----
 > From: reflector-bounces at tvbf.org [mailto:reflector-bounces at tvbf.org] On
 > Behalf Of John Dibble
 > Sent: Thursday, February 16, 2006 1:19 PM
 > To: Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list
 > Subject: Re: REFLECTOR: Pitch Trim Mystery
 >
 > Alex,
 > Thanks, but when solo, my canard barely stalls, more like a mush.  I'm
 > concerned that
 > less incidence might put me in the deep stall mode.  Besides, the weight 
is
 > just a
 > temporary thing anyway. I'm currently getting 180-182kn with my 
Franklin/IVO
 > and I
 > hope to get a few kn more once the trim issue is resolved and I can use 
full
 > power.
 >
 > Alex Balic wrote:
 >
 > > John-
 > > In lieu of adding the weight- you might think about dropping the canard
 > > incidence about a degree- will give you more speed too...
 > >
 > > Alex
 > >
 > > -----Original Message-----
 > > From: reflector-bounces at tvbf.org [mailto:reflector-bounces at tvbf.org] On
 > > Behalf Of John Dibble
 > > Sent: Thursday, February 16, 2006 12:09 PM
 > > To: Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list
 > > Subject: Re: REFLECTOR: Pitch Trim Mystery
 > >
 > > Steve,
 > > I have one installed.  I need to check, but I believe it wroks against 
the
 > > spring, so
 > > I guess I need to reverse it.  How much work is involved to do that?
 > >
 > > Scott B - I believe you mentioned that reversing the strainer could 
cause
 > > instability.  How can I flight test for this?
 > >
 > > In the meantime, I plan to add 20lb to the nose, so I won't have to use
 > the
 > > full trim
 > > adjustment at cruise.
 > >
 > > John
 > >
 > > steve korney wrote:
 > >
 > > > A lite spring and a external trim tab would solve that problem.....
 > Like
 > > a
 > > > sparrow strainer
 > > >
 > > > Best... Steve
 > > >
 > > > ----Original Message Follows----
 > > > From: John Dibble <aminetech at bluefrog.com>
 > > > Reply-To: Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list
 > <reflector at tvbf.org>
 > > > To: Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list <reflector at tvbf.org>
 > > > Subject: Re: REFLECTOR: Pitch Trim Mystery
 > > > Date: Wed, 15 Feb 2006 11:28:10 -0600
 > > >
 > > > Well, that sounds like a good guess.  For the entire flight either 
the
 > > > autopilot or
 > > > myself was adding a little extra pressure to maintain level flight.
 > After
 > > I
 > > > got out
 > > > of the plane I pushed down on the elevator a little.  Maybe that is 
what
 > > > made it work
 > > > again.  I'll check it out.  But wouldn't pulling back on the stick 
also
 > do
 > > > the same
 > > > thing?  Or am I not understanding this right?
 > > >
 > > > Scott - It took a lot of force and of course the farther I pulled 
back,
 > > the
 > > > stronger
 > > > the force.  It felt like I might break something.  I suppose you 
could
 > > trim
 > > > your
 > > > elevator all the way up and feel the force to pull the stick back to
 > > > neutral.
 > > >
 > > > John
 > > >
 > > > Alex Balic wrote:
 > > >
 > > >  > The pitch trim jack screw has an internal "switch" that turns it 
off
 > in
 > > > the
 > > >  > particular direction of travel that would bottom it out- possibly
 > this
 > > is
 > > >  > just slightly out or the contact is burned, hard to tell- not sure 
if
 > > you
 > > >  > could even open it up to check that - you might want to do some
 > > >  > experimenting- see if you run it all of the way to the bottom and 
you
 > > > force
 > > >  > it if it might move just a bit more and loose contact internally,
 > after
 > > >  > relieving pressure, apply pressure in the opposite direction-  
might
 > > move
 > > >  > back just a tiny bit to regain contact again- just a guess......
 > > >  >
 > > >  > -----Original Message-----
 > > >  > From: reflector-bounces at tvbf.org 
[mailto:reflector-bounces at tvbf.org]
 > On
 > > >  > Behalf Of John Dibble
 > > >  > Sent: Wednesday, February 15, 2006 10:46 AM
 > > >  > To: Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list
 > > >  > Subject: REFLECTOR: Pitch Trim Mystery
 > > >  >
 > > >  > Seems like when the Reflector has a what-if discussion, soon after
 > > > someone
 > > >  > has to go
 > > >  > out and experience it.  I guess the pitch trim failure had my name 
on
 > > it.
 > > >  > Last night
 > > >  > I flew 1.7 hrs at 180 kn with the pitch trim pegged at down trim.  
I
 > > cut
 > > >  > power just
 > > >  > enough to descend at 500 fpm and kept the trim pegged.  At 5 miles
 > out
 > > I
 > > >  > slowed to get
 > > >  > set up for landing and noticed the pitch up trim wasn't working.
 > > >  > Fortunately I've
 > > >  > flown at night enough, so that that didn't add much to the 
problem.
 > I
 > > > had a
 > > >  > 5000 ft
 > > >  > runway and a direct 10kn headwind which was a good thing.  Didn't
 > know
 > > > how
 > > >  > long my arm
 > > >  > would hold out so I took the fastest way in and kept my speed up 
to
 > > 90kn.
 > > >  > Wasn't sure
 > > >  > if I could hold it off at 70.  The landing was a little rough, but
 > I've
 > > > done
 > > >  > worse.
 > > >  > Today I checked it out and the trim is working fine.  Can anyone 
tell
 > > me
 > > >  > what
 > > >  > happened?  I have fuses and no CBs so it wasn't that.
 > > >  >
 > > >  > John
 > > >  >
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