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1. 09:38 AM - Might have discovered why rudder trim suddenly changed (mppalmer@aol.com)
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| Subject: | Might have discovered why rudder trim suddenly changed |
A few months ago (maybe a year ago?) I asked if anyone had any ideas why our rudder
trim (fixed trim tab) suddenly changed.
Well, I might have tripped on the problem.
We flew to Kern Valley, CA a few weeks ago. The ramp there is on a fairly big incline
and aircraft park with their nose facing uphill. (So tail downhill.)
My airplane partner, whose butt (and stomach) has gotten larger as she's aged.
was experimenting getting out of the plane without using her arms. (She's scheduled
for back surgery and wanted to see if she could get in and out of the plane
if the strength in her arms was diminshed.) She leaned way back after she
had pushed herself onto the seat back. Since the tail was already pointed downhill.
so went the plane. We tipped on to the tail, in Glasair TD fashion. (We're
a FT.)
That's the second time in the life if this aircraft that that's happened. When
it happens, it bangs the bottom of the rudder and, on our plane, the rudder trim
tab itself.
This time it broke the bond between the rudder trim tab and the rudder itself.
I ended up pulling the trim tab out and gluing the rudder there. (Always carry
JB Weld in your tool kit.)
Turns out that the airplane flies just fine without the tab and the aerodynamics
are back to what one would expect. That is, it takes right rudder in climb,
no rudder in cruise, and left rudder in descent with power.
So I'm thinking that the bond inside the rudder between the inside skins and the
metal trim tab had started loosening last year, such that, when air load hit
the trim tab, the tab flexed a bit. It didn't feel loose during the year when
I would bend the tab. Nevertheless, this is the only explanation I can find.
And now that the tab is no more, the problem is no more.
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