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Strange left yaw

Chippster1

Active Member
Hello all you pilots out in VAF land.

I have an RV-10 which I bought about 5 years ago and have been battling this problem for about 3 years. Sometimes I have to put a lot of right foot in to keep the ball centered and sometimes I don?t. It has been such a mystery. I have had several good people look at the plane, including Vic Syracuse of Baseleg aviation.
Vic had found an asymmetry of the fiberglass fairing on the top of the vert stab, so we replaced it and the plane was better for a while. Then I noticed it warped again so I removed it and bonded a brace inside the fiberglass to hold it?s shape.
The problem seems to be creeping in again, but the top fairing is holding it?s shape well. The wheel and gear leg fairings also look straight and parallel
Any aerodynamicists want to lend me their 2 cents?
I?m all ears
Ted Chipps
N498EC
 
Perhaps mechanical rather than aerodynamic?

Something like a groove worn bushing in the rudder cable path from pedal down the tunnel and aft fuselage.
 
Friction and hanging up on one rudder cable keeping the rudder deflected a bit and not centering...
 
Nose gear

Check the breakout force on the nose gear. Once the airplane is in the air, even a slight displacement of the nose gear from Center will cause a corresponding yaw.

There is a video out there on this happening in flight. The nose gear breakout for e was increased to stop the problem...
 
The point Rocketman is making is that the nose wheel may not be staying straight in flight, thereby inducing a turn.
It is NOT connected to the flight controls.
 
Yes I understand that. My response about the rudder pedals were to the other guy that suggested checking the rudder cables
We all know that RV nose gears are free castering
We learned that the first time we flew an RV
 
Yes I understand that. My response about the rudder pedals were to the other guy that suggested checking the rudder cables
We all know that RV nose gears are free castering
We learned that the first time we flew an RV

Ok, we?re just trying to help and the because you weren?t the builder you might not be aware of the nose gear breakout force and the fact that it needs to be checked and adjusted periodically as the parts wear and loosen and can lead to the condition you are describing.
 
Not familliar with the -10, are there any rudder return springs installed?
 
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Not familliar with the -10, are there any rudder return springs installed?

No return springs.

The builder's manual shows where to apply the force/measurement. My recollection is that it was at one of the lightening holes (which is convenient for attaching a spring gauge), but I could easily be wrong about that. EDIT: SEE COMMENTS BELOW. USE AXLE
 
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I would love to see the video of the nose gear castering in flight
Does anyone know where it is?
Also, does anyone know why it would move one way or another?
Could it be a spiral in prop wash? I would think it would just want to weathervane in the relative wind, thus straightening itself out. I must confess I am perplexed
 
If the nose wheel is not aligned straight when it lifts off the ground, it may be skewed left or right and not center, creating a trim effect. Breakout force is important. I would disassemble, clean and lubricate, and reassemble using the axle hole as the breakout force point of measure, not a lightening hole. Doing a lightening as the point of measure will cause an erroneous calibration.
 
No return springs.

The builder's manual shows where to apply the force/measurement. My recollection is that it was at one of the lightening holes (which is convenient for attaching a spring gauge), but I could easily be wrong about that.

Definitely 26 lbs at the axle - sheet 46-06
 
Or

Get a GoPro camera an video a flight. There are a couple of guys that make mounts for the camera that screw into the wing tie down hole...
 
I had the same problem at around 70 hours. The belleville washers loosen up after a while.

Here's a picture of what it looked like on my plane:

tailshot.jpg
 
It did, but it must have not been a huge yaw because I didn't notice it much, my buddies saw it when we flew in formation. The breakout force was down to 13lbs.
 
Mine has a notable annoying yaw that makes me put in my right foot during cruise

How much? A lot of 10s are about a half ball out to the right in cruise due to the lack of VS offset in the design, or something to that effect. Typically resting your right foot on the pedal is enough to center the ball but even that can get tedious on a long flight which is why a number of us have chosen to install some type of rudder trim (servo or spring bias? I chose the latter myself).
 
Ted, I haven?t heard from you on this but if the problem has come back it is the tail fairing if you are having to hold as much force as we did before. The best way to check it is to see if the required trim force increases with speed. If so, it is a trim problem.

Vic
 
Ted, I haven?t heard from you on this but if the problem has come back it is the tail fairing if you are having to hold as much force as we did before. The best way to check it is to see if the required trim force increases with speed. If so, it is a trim problem.

Vic
I want to check the breakout force on the nose gear, as I do seem to get some shimmy on roll out. If no improvement I will call you
 
Well,
Good news!
I did increase the breakout force on the nose gear, and she now flies straight as an arrow- ball right in the middle!
Thanks everyone for the advice!

Ted Chipps
N498EC
 
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