REFLECTOR: Turn Coordinator

[Al Gietzen]

Carl;

If the rudder is not against the stop when flying; something is wrong, and I
think potentially dangerous.  It is very susceptible to flutter in that
condition.  If you put a straight edge horizontally on the winglet to the
back edge of the rudder there should be something like 1/8" or so of gap at
the hinge line. The rudder should be loaded against the stop during flight.

I'm sure you've checked that the ball is centered when the plane is level on
the ground. Could it be that the alignment of the winglet is off?

If the ball is centered in flight (meaning the plane is level), It's not
going cause uneven fuel flow.  A leaking cap seal certainly will. 

Al

-----Original Message-----
From: reflector-bounces at tvbf.org [mailto:reflector-bounces at tvbf.org] On
Behalf Of Carl Hoffman
Sent: Friday, March 13, 2009 10:58 AM
To: Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list
Subject: Re: REFLECTOR: Turn Coordinator



---- Original message ----
>Date: Fri, 13 Mar 2009 12:57:26 -0400
>From: Tom <tomcat05 at comcast.net>  
>Subject: Re: REFLECTOR: Turn Coordinator  
>To: reflector at tvbf.org
>
>Occasionally, I will lose fuel from the left fuel tank if the fuel cap is
not sealed well enough with petroleum jelly. Is this related to uneven fuel
flow?
>
>I fly with a Navaid autopilot that's coupled to Garmin 296 GPS. It has an
electric gyro with CDI and slip indicator.  It flies straight and level, but
the right rudder moves 1/4" outboard against the rudder spring during
flight. Are the rudders rigged properly?
>
>Carl Hoffman
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>   
>Carl, it sounds like the two issues presented  (uneven fuel flow and 
>rudder movement) are related. Took me a while to get the aircraft 
>trimmed properly on initial flights and I found that when the ball was 
>off center one tank would drain faster than the other. After I got the 
>rudders trimmed properly the issue went away. is your ball centered 
>during straight and level flight? The other baffling thing to me is how 
>a rudder would move outboard without pilot input, The rudders curve 
>slightly outboard of the stab which would tend to be pushed in with the 
>relative wind. Tom
>_______________________________________________

Tom, the ball is centered during level flight. It hardly moves in turns.
If I was "flying sideways", wouldn't one of rudders move outboard, unless I
put in a stronger rudder return spring? Or move the stop on the opposite
rudder inboard. Carl
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