RV-6A "Rigging"

A forum in which to discuss topics specific to the assembly of the RV 6/6A.
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BillyBob
Class G
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Joined: Sun Mar 26, 2006 2:52 pm
Location: Texarado

RV-6A "Rigging"

Post by BillyBob »

As I am an older pilot, my approach to my return to flying (flew when I was much younger) was to buy a flying RV-6A to gain experience while I worked on deciding what I wanted to build, and to have something to fly while building. For this older RV-6A I have been slowly fixing it up & rebuiding some parts, such as changing wheel pants and fairings to the newer pressure recovery type. I have about 150 hours in the plane.

This plane seems to have a "rigging" problem and I have had other RV pilots comment that it seemed "heavy". I am interested in doing as much as I can to "lighten" it and correct any problems that are possible to be corrected. It currently has trims tabs on right aileron and the rudder and I can see that the elevators are not aligned.

I would apprecaite any inputs from others as to everything that should be checked. I'm not opposed to buying/building some parts if necessary. Might be good practice.

Thanks in advance.

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cjensen
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Post by cjensen »

Is it a rigging problem, or is the airplane just heavy? I've heard that the heavier they are, the farther away they get from the RV "feel". What's your empty weight? They only way I could see a rigging problem resulting in heavy controls would be slack in control cables, and since they are push-pull tubes, this shouldn't be a problem unless there is some binding somewhere. :?
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BillyBob
Class G
Posts: 20
Joined: Sun Mar 26, 2006 2:52 pm
Location: Texarado

"heavy"

Post by BillyBob »

Probably a combination of both. I know the plane is heavy according to the averages I've seen. It is approx 1120 lbs empty. I have been working to get weight out of it but there is a limited amount I can do here. I can't easily go back and create lightening holes and it appears some amount of extra weight is paint over paint.

So maybe the better question to ask is rigging to make it the most efficient in the air and fly as staright as possible without trim tabs, misaligned control surfaces and other drag creating problems.

bc

BillyBob
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Joined: Sun Mar 26, 2006 2:52 pm
Location: Texarado

Elevator (Horn) Alignment

Post by BillyBob »

Another forum currently has a thread about alignment of the elevator horns (& elevators) when drilling the bolt hole for the pushrod.

I'd like to know the overall affect on the flight characteristics of the plane if the elevators end up being mis-aligned; say up to an inch or more at the trailing edges.

Anyone have a good description or should I start building my wind tunnel?

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jim_geo
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Post by jim_geo »

Well I may start sounding like a broken record to some, and I don't have first hand experience on the subject. I have heard and read in several places that the shape of the trailing edges of the control surfaces has a lot to do with how the controls "feel" or may even require trim tabs at times. You can read about it youself in the book "Flight Testing Homebuilt Aircraft" By Von Askue. It's a pretty good read and touches on the subject with some clarity. Also I have heard about a heavy wing being corrected by altering a misformed aileron trailing edge. Might be worth checking out before you spend a lot of bucks on parts.

BillyBob
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Joined: Sun Mar 26, 2006 2:52 pm
Location: Texarado

Thank You

Post by BillyBob »

I'll get the book and read it.
This last query was not about a heavy wing but it all probably goes together. The elevators on this plane are also misaligned to each other, much more than pounding or sqeezing a trailing edge will fix.
However, I'd like to think I can fix the things that are wrong and get much closer to straight efficient flight without huge trim tabs.

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