I had some information emailed to me on the Reno crash that has me thinking about the trim system on the RV. My background is aviation safety so I am always looking to avoid single failures that could cause major problems.
As I suspect most now know the P51 accident aircraft had been modified from the stock double tab system to a single tab system. The failure of the trim tab is estimated to have generated a instant 8 G pitchup combined with 150 to 200 lb stick kickback when the tab separated. The single tab system is essentially what the RV's have.
When the weather clears I am going to run a few test to get a idea of out of trim stick forces in the RV. The 6 I have is a bit faster then Vans numbers and I would like to have a idea of what forces I could expect. I realize that the speed range of the P51 is vastly greater then any RV however I wonder about single tab systems on Rockets and Super 8's or even a standard RV in a dive at VNE.
If anyone is aware of tab failures in the RV series and what the results were I would be interested in hearing the stories.
George
As I suspect most now know the P51 accident aircraft had been modified from the stock double tab system to a single tab system. The failure of the trim tab is estimated to have generated a instant 8 G pitchup combined with 150 to 200 lb stick kickback when the tab separated. The single tab system is essentially what the RV's have.
When the weather clears I am going to run a few test to get a idea of out of trim stick forces in the RV. The 6 I have is a bit faster then Vans numbers and I would like to have a idea of what forces I could expect. I realize that the speed range of the P51 is vastly greater then any RV however I wonder about single tab systems on Rockets and Super 8's or even a standard RV in a dive at VNE.
If anyone is aware of tab failures in the RV series and what the results were I would be interested in hearing the stories.
George