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1. 10:49 PM - electric aileron trim (TeamGrumman@aol.com)
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| Subject: | electric aileron trim |
--> TeamGrumman-List message posted by: TeamGrumman@aol.com
it was bound to happen. I had to remove an aileron from a Tiger with the
electric aileron trim. Time for new bearings, you see. Well, who ever
installed this electric trim did not leave any service loop in the wire. There
were no connections. Just inside of the aileron torque tube (on the inside of
the plane) were four wires, they had black electrical tape on them. I figured
they had been soldered and black taped. I cut the wires 2 inches outside
the torque tube, with the plan to put shrink sleeve on the wires and a connector
on the cut end so that the aileron could be R&R'd a little easier next time.
After I did the required maintenance and reinstalled the aileron, I
proceeded to get ready to install a connector. When i removed the black tape,
the
wires fell off. They were not soldered, just twisted together. And, too far
in the tube to solder and repair correctly.
So, my only option was to pull the aileron trim mechanism (ATM), add a foot
or so of more wire, and reinstall. The TM had been riveted to the underside
of the aileron. Not just riveted with #30 soft aluminum pop rivets so the
next guy could remove it without too much damage to the aileron, NO, not this
one. Every other rivet was a #20 structural rivet. By the time I got the TM
out, the aluminum skin on underside of the aileron was pretty badly stretched,
and wrinkled.
Next, I tried to remove the nut on the adjusting rod on the ATM. It was
stripped. The adjuster is all aluminum and so was the locking stud and nut.
I
had to cut it off.
I didn't notice anywhere on the alieron counter balance where the aileron had
be rebalanced after installing the ATM. I had to add a piece of .020
aluminum as a doubler with tinnerman nut plates so taht I could screw the ATM back
in place and sandwich the aileron skin between the ATM and the doubler.
The quality of the parts in the ATM leaves a lot to be desired. I'd say $30
to $40 in hadware at the most.
Bottom line is, to save a few seconds adjusting the fixed trim tabs adds
(potentially) hundreds of dollars to the aileron AD inspection. Not to mention
the cost of the ATM and its installation.
Gary
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