What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

heavy wing

B

bobnoffs

Well Known Member
next week i want to take care of my heavy wing. i know there are a lot of threads on this and i have been scouring them for over an hour and i can not find an answer to which way is the threaded rod turned to raise or lower that wing. does screwing the bearing on to the rod raise or lower that wing? and should you go after the heavy or light wing first? anyone know?
 
Last edited:
bobnoffs said:
i can not find an answer to which way is the threaded rod turned to raise or lower that wing. does screwing the bearing on to the rod raise or lower that wing? and should you go after the heavy or light wing first? anyone know?
Click to expand...

If you think about it: The rod is on the underside of the control surface, so unscrewing the rod-end (lengthening the rod) pushes the surface trailing edge up. So you unscrew the rod-end on the light wing, or screw it in on the heavy wing.

Which one to try first? Good question. I don't know. Pushing the light wing's aileron trailing-edge-up will reduce your drag by a hair, and pushing ("pulling") the heavy wing's aileron trailing-edge-down will reduce your stall speed by a hair. I can't think of any other considerations but I could be missing something, I'd have to think about it more.
 
thanks john,
that post does describe which way to turn the bearing. i have read van's description several times and have addressed all the possible problems. in their description i can't find my answer.
conrad, yes, your post makes sense. i would have just gone with that logic but i remember a post where a builder had done the fix but said he remembered the direction of twist ''wasn't intuitive'' so here i am looking for the answer.
thanks to all that replied.
 
In my airplane flying solo I have no roll tendency however with a passenger especially a heavy one it will want to roll to the right so do your testing solo.
 
Changing the rod length on the aileron push rod will not raise or lower a heavy or light wing! It only changes the neutral position of the ailerons.

There are 2 ways to fix a heavy wing. #1 squeeze the trailing edge of the light wings aileron or #2 lower the aileron's mount point on the heavy wing's aileron.
 
BoydBirchler said:
Changing the rod length on the aileron push rod will not raise or lower a heavy or light wing! It only changes the neutral position of the ailerons.

There are 2 ways to fix a heavy wing. #1 squeeze the trailing edge of the light wings aileron or #2 lower the aileron's mount point on the heavy wing's aileron.
Click to expand...

eagull seagull is offline
Join Date: Dec 2019
Location: Highland, CA
Posts: 584
Default
If you are using the lengthen ball hinge method to compensate for a heavy wing, this is the “formula”. Turn the hinge ball out on the light wing.

Now we have misinformation somewhere. Im using seagull's advise.
 
If you are using the lengthen ball hinge method to compensate for a heavy wing, this is the “formula”. Turn the hinge ball out on the light wing.

Now we have misinformation somewhere. Im using seagull's advise.
Click to expand...

Trimming the aileron itself will only change the stick neutral. On the -12 the offset hinge location causes the adjustment to raise or lower the aileron in relation to the TE of the wing. The raising / lowering in relation to the TE is what compensates for the heavy wing.
 
After licensing I added trim tabs to my rudder and ailerons. Not as elegant as the other methods, but it’s simple and easy to change.
 
My -12 has no trim tabs to get accidental bent, flies straight as an arrow hands off. It does take a little more work but looks cleaner.
 
Last edited:
my thoughts have always been the same as seagulls but so many reports of success by screwing/unscrewing the bearings i have to give it a try. my last homebuilt i did the wedge thing and it was pretty painless.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top