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How difficult to retrofit aileron trim?

A

andrew2

I'm New Here
I am shopping for an RV14/14A or maybe an RV7/7A. I am surprised by the number I see that do not have aileron trim. Although the owners are happy with the way their planes fly without it, my question is how hard is it to retrofit? In other words, if I decide that aileron trim is a “must have” for me, does that mean I need to walk away from planes without it or is it a reasonable retrofit mod?

I am not trying to start another thread about whether or not aileron trim is good to have. If I were to buy a plane without aileron trim, I might be so happy with how it flies that I would never bother with a retrofit. I am just trying to understand if a retrofit is even practical and how much effort it would require.
 
Electric

Electric is not horrible. The servo is mounted to the seat pan ribs. Actuator has a spring to each side of the control column.
 
I'm not a fan of the spring biasing system, if I was to build one I wouldn't install it either :eek:
Heavy wing=time to switch tanks.
 
I am going to disagree with Walt for the first time. I really like mine and highly recommend it.

This is in particular for those who have a heavy wing to begin with. Unlike other models, with the 14 there isn't much to remedy the heavy wing issue if it was rigged correctly to begin with. In that situation, switching tank might not be as much help.

To answer the question, probably the hardest part would be the wiring, especially if you are going to connected it to your EIFS to control the trim. The mechanical part involves pulling the push/pull tube out and rivet a couple of tabs to the push/pull tube. Install the servo which attaches to the inboard access panel cover and attach the springs to the installed tabs.

For the 7, this is even easier and you have the option of manual or electric trim. The manual version is super easy to install and very effective.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the good information

Thanks, everyone, for the responses. It sounds like the lack of aileron trim shouldn’t be a deal-breaker. That’s good news.
 
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