Aileron Issue in Ireland
Just done 8 hours on a new RV7 7 EI VII - lovely aircraft, but until this afternoon I have been puzzled about why it feels so 'wobbly' in roll - esp compared to my own aircraft, also a '7.
The aircraft feels like it has no lateral stability, sort of like an extra, but
not as nice... Not easy to describe. Also, the ailerons do not seem to 'stiffen
up' at higher speeds like I believe they should. Did a sort of 'stick free
static stability test on ailerons' (tap and let go) - it went rock and roll
almost divergent... esp at low fuel. Initially they seemed to have a 'neutral zone' where little happened with a small deflection and there was almost no resistance to deflection. We drooped the ailerons a little which made a small
improvement, but still not enough. We measured everything, examined bellcranks, throws etc. All looked OK. We Put a spring in (mine has one for the manual trim) which improved it a bit, but
still not enough to be happy. Then I noticed that the aileron leading edges
appear to be slightly 'drooped' giving too much 'Frieze in the breeze' at
neutral aileron (about 1/8" all along the leading edge). The ailerons have a
distinct cambered bottom surface from the spar forward. Those on my own '7 have absolutely flat bottom surfaces. I am convinced this is
what is causing the funny 'wobbles'. The ailerons came as part of a QB kit; I guess they are not unique.
Anyone else come across this?