REFLECTOR: STICK & RUDDER

[Tom Martino]

Were you in a dive to get 220 KIAS?  Or do you have a "mother load" under the cowl?
 
Cool.
 
Thanks for the testing tips.  When I deployed full right rudder ... I did it slowly and let up immediately after induced flutter.
 
Tom

________________________________

From: reflector-bounces at tvbf.org on behalf of Rene Dugas
Sent: Mon 3/26/2007 10:03 AM
To: 'Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list'
Subject: Re: REFLECTOR: STICK & RUDDER



If one is going to do flutter and max VNE testing please consider your escape route if it occurs thoroughly.  Consider a parachute and a chase plane.  Pull up to loose speed and load the controls, deploy rudders- 

Both.  Hand on the throttle.  Just my short list.  Been to 220 knots indicated.

Rene'

-----Original Message-----
From: reflector-bounces at tvbf.org [mailto:reflector-bounces at tvbf.org] On Behalf Of Scott Derrick
Sent: Monday, March 26, 2007 9:42 AM
To: Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list
Subject: Re: REFLECTOR: STICK & RUDDER

 

Tom,

I would first verify your "ball" is set correctly.  You know the drill, level the plane, check the ball.  If you have the standard fuel set up with a single cutoff switch, you fuel burn will act as a yaw sensing device. If the plane is not trimmed correctly(everything else according to hoyle, ie, fule caps tight, no leaks in vent system, etc.) you will have uneven fuel consumption between the left and right fuel tanks..  

If you do have even fuel flow, verified with at least an hours level and straight cruise test, I'd adjust the ball in flight to register in between the lubber lines.  If the fuel flow is not even shim the right rudder out a bit more.

Regarding the right rudder flutter.  That should be dealt with no matter what the yaw situation is.  Have you called the factory and asked about that?   Do you get the flutter in a hard roll with out using any rudder? Or half rudder?  

You asked a while ago about how fast to test for flutter. I'd recommend  you test for 10 to 20% higher than your fast cruise speed.  Test at altitude. Test carefully, 5 knot increments using the knock method on the controls. 

Scott


Tom Martino wrote: 

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

 



________________________________



 
_______________________________________________
To change your email address, visit http://www.tvbf.org/mailman/listinfo/reflector
 
Visit the gallery!  www.tvbf.org/gallery
user:pw Check new archives: www.tvbf.org/pipermail
Check old archives: http://www.tvbf.org/archives/velocity/maillist.html





-- 
 
-
    As nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression. In both instances, there is a twilight when everything remains seemingly unchanged. And it is in such twilight that we all must be most aware of change in the air however slight lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness.
 
    William O. Douglas, Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court 
 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: application/ms-tnef
Size: 10862 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://www.tvbf.org/mailman/private/reflector/attachments/20070326/9e253150/attachment-0001.bin