Aileron misalignment

[Harald]

I started building my RV-7 in Dec. 2005 and actually I´m assembling the wings, fuselage and empennage together. During the building process VAF is for me the best addition to the almost precise building manual. Using the VAF/search function was almost effective, but actualy I couldnt find any answer to my aileron alignment problem.
The details: Adjusting the wingtips to the wings I noticed that the ailerons are not "in line" with the airfoil. The aileron neutral orientation was set using the prolongation of the rib tooling holes as described in the manual. The aileron is parallel to the upper rear wing skin. The front part of the aileron (both sides) is higher than the airfoil curve prolongation (see attached picture). The vertical displacement on both ailerons at the hinge points are nearby the same.


One way to change the vertical position of the ailerons is to use new virgin aileron brackets and drill the mounting holes at the required position. In this case the ailerons will not be aligned correctly with the flaps on lower wing side.
I would like to know if anyone have the same aileron displacement and what´s the reason for this displacement. Is it better to improve the appearence on the upper wing side and hide the displacement to the lower side?
Thank you in advance!

Harald Sotomayor
RV-7
Finishing Kit

 

[reak]

Hi Harald,

My RV7A is similar. I also thought about ways to make it look nicer but decided to just fly it. I'm glad I did. The aircraft flys fine but initially had a heavy rignt wing which got heaver with increasing speed. After doing all the the stuff suggested in the builders manual I finially moved the outboard edge of the right aileron down 1/32 of an inch which completely cured the heavy wing problem. From the picture, it looks like you would have to move the ailerons down ~1/4 inch to align it. My experience suggests that the aircraft if very sensitive to changes at this point, it's probably better to just let it alone until you have some flight time. I would guess that after its flying you will be so happy with the performance you won't ever notice the slight discontinuity; I don't.

 

[GAHco]

Quick or slow build?

If its quick build it would be troublesome to correct this.

I have a 6 slowbuild and I was able to finely dial in the exact hinge location before I drilled the rear spar.

If both wings are the same and they are not too far off I would leave them.