R

rwarre

Well Known Member
Today I tried to fix my heavy left wing by splitting the wing tip trailing edge to reposition and realign. Before doing any fiberglass work, I decided to put in some screws and fly the plane(rv7a) before finishing. The work that I did made no difference. Next I attached a metal trim piece on the end of the wing tip and bent it down pretty good. Again no difference. I need ideas on what might cause this. I have checked rigging, alignment, etc with no glaring miscalculations or what I thought might cause the heavy wing. Help. Thanks in advance.
 
I found that redrilling the outboard aileron hinge as described in the Vans instructions worked very well. Seems that only 1/32" or even less change in the relative position of the aileron vs the wing skin made a big difference. Also, I found that the ball was very sensitive to gear leg fairing alignment, especially the nose gear fairing...

Don't give up. There are lots of RVs flying straight and level hands off out there...
 
As others have pointed out, there is a list of items to check which you seem to have done so. If you are positive that your aileron and flaps are rigged correctly and the ball is center, then the last thing to do is to squeeze the opposite aileron trailing edge ever so slightly. It does not take much so I caution you to go slow on this and try it each time. It is easier to squeeze the trailing edge then pushing it out.

We have done this for three friends with RV7 and all of three were fixed with very little squeezing.
 
slot the aileron hinge bracket

I have a heavy wing and in the process of fixing it. My right aileron was mounted higher than my left and I had a heavy right wing, so I slotted the brackets and moved it down, went heavy to the left on me, now I have been trying to hone in on where it needs to be and is taking quite a few iterations. I am still not there, might be worth looking into. Also if you decide to try squeezing the light aileron, start by taking your fingers and squeezing the trailing edge ever so gently, a little bit can go a long way. As Gus from the factory told me, the wingtip doesn't do much for this, because of whatever reason.

Randy
8A Flying
 
frazitl said:
I found that redrilling the outboard aileron hinge as described in the Vans instructions worked very well. Seems that only 1/32" or even less change in the relative position of the aileron vs the wing skin made a big difference.
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+1. I could trim my stick all the way to the right and still get a roll to the left. Redrilling the outboard bracket (new bracket = $6) fixed it.
 
Are you sure you have a heavy wing?

I know this sounds a bit silly, but I try to remind folks that a side by side aircraft when flying solo with equal fuel in both tanks you will have a heavy left wing. It is not a heavy wing at all, your wieght is just off center.
If you have not already done so, load up the passenger seat with someone of similar wieght, full or equal fuel level in both tanks, and check your stick pressures. This will give you a base point to start from.
Some choose to "fix" a balanced airplane for solo flight as that is the most common configuration for most. I chose to keep my airplane balanced around it's center line, so, I always have a "heavy left wing" when solo. When I have a passenger of similar wieght, I have a balanced airplane.
 
Adequate trim

JonJay said:
I chose to keep my airplane balanced around it's center line, so, I always have a "heavy left wing" when solo.
Click to expand...

So, when you are flying solo, how much trim do you have to put in to be hands off in cruise?

Thanks,
 
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