I received an aileron trim kit from Van's but the instructions are minimal. Does anyone have any experience with installation on a flying -3?
Thanks
Bill Newkirk
The flying -4 we bought has no trim tabs yet flies straighter than any certified plane I?ve owned, but it always had a slightly heavy left wing so we installed the manual aileron trim shown in your photo into our -4. Btw, most of the RV?s we considered buying had heavy left wings.Fred Bauer almost has a photo of the install on his -3. Use the magnify feature and you'll be able to see all you need.
http://picasaweb.google.com/airspeedzero/N313RVVansRV3BSN11366FredBauerJr#5225262612441158434
Above 180 mph tas on my -3 the left wing gets heavy. Fuel transfer doesn't help. No problem when yanking & banking, but a real pain on a X-C. Solved the problem by looping three #64 rubber bands together, then putting one end on the stick and the other on the carb heat knob.
After using the rubber bands on the trip to Oshkosh, I decided to give Van's trim a try. Currently trying to find a pair of springs that will work better than those supplied.
Tony
Yep, should've mentioned that, the ball must be centered before messing with any wing heavy issues at all. I have a TruTrak two-axis autopilot and love it. Although when flying around in the local area I often times like just hand-flying the plane just so as to "feel it", this is one of the best parts of the -3.Randy, thanks for the link to Van's article. I had read it in the past but did not remember the info about centering the ball. My ball is NOT centered. So perhaps I should put on a rudder tab. I saw yours at Arlington.
At slow speeds my right wing is heavy but as speed increases the left one is. I love flying my -3, but because it is so "unstable" I am considering installing a single axis AP from Dynon. Yesterday I flew it 4 1/2 hours. It was enjoyable, as usual, but requires constant attention. I'm not sure what is considered 'normal' because my last 700 hours have been in a Taylorcraft, a Murphy Rebel and a C-182. Comments...
Bill Newkirk
Guys, it's just good practice to address the root cause of any wing-heavy condition. Van's has written an excellent article on the subject which can be found here. Yes, it's a pain in the butt to keep drilling aileron mounts and trying them but oh so satifsying when you get the thing to fly hands off.