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#1
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Rigging a Cherokee 6-300
My maintenance shop rigged my control surfaces, at my request. The
plane 'seemed' to have been flying in a bank, despite having the AI centered and DG on the same track. They found that the flaps were the biggest culprits and adjusted them accordingly. When I flew it and took it up to cruise, the plane flew straight without that 'banking' feeling. But, my rudder trim continues to be pretty far right. With the rudder trim indicator in the middle, I have to apply a lot of right rudder. Is this normal, or should I get it to the point that I can have the rudder trim centered. On the ground with the front wheel straight and the rudder trim in neutral, the rudder is dead center, too. |
#2
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When I flew it and took it up to cruise, the plane flew straight
without that 'banking' feeling. But, my rudder trim continues to be pretty far right. With the rudder trim indicator in the middle, I have to apply a lot of right rudder. Is this normal, or should I get it to the point that I can have the rudder trim centered. On the ground with the front wheel straight and the rudder trim in neutral, the rudder is dead center, too. What kind of rudder trim indicator is on a Six? -- Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination" |
#3
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"Jay Honeck" wrote in message news:vpAfb.35932$%h1.24046@sccrnsc02...
When I flew it and took it up to cruise, the plane flew straight without that 'banking' feeling. But, my rudder trim continues to be pretty far right. With the rudder trim indicator in the middle, I have to apply a lot of right rudder. Is this normal, or should I get it to the point that I can have the rudder trim centered. On the ground with the front wheel straight and the rudder trim in neutral, the rudder is dead center, too. What kind of rudder trim indicator is on a Six? The same kind that's on a Cherokee - the knob to the right of the emergency brake handle. |
#4
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When I flew it and took it up to cruise, the plane flew straight
without that 'banking' feeling. But, my rudder trim continues to be pretty far right. With the rudder trim indicator in the middle, I have to apply a lot of right rudder. Is this normal, or should I get it to the point that I can have the rudder trim centered. On the ground with the front wheel straight and the rudder trim in neutral, the rudder is dead center, too. What kind of rudder trim indicator is on a Six? The same kind that's on a Cherokee - the knob to the right of the emergency brake handle. Okay, well, if that's the case I don't understand the question. How do you know that the rudder trim is "in neutral" when all you've got is a knob that turns? The only way I can tell my rudder trim is "in neutral" is by adjusting it in flight until the ball is centered. I suppose if you're counting the number of turns, lock to lock -- and there's more turns from "neutral" one way than the other -- your A&P can adjust the number of turns around the post for you? On the other hand, what difference does it make, so long as you are able to adjust the trim adequately so that the ball is centered? Or are you concerned that the nosewheel pant is being cocked to the right because you're having to adjust the trim too far one way or the other? This could, I suppose, impart a turning force, given the size of the wheelpant -- but then the ball wouldn't be centered, would it? For my money, if you're able to trim out the rudder forces adequately in all flight regimes, the expense of adjusting the number of turns around the knob isn't worth it. -- Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination" |
#5
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Ray Andraka wrote:
Jay, mine has a pointer on the top of the thing where the knob is. The pointer moves forward and aft as you turn the knob. Mine's a '65 Six. I'm sure it can be adjusted, I just don't know the procedure. Probably involves taking the trim screw assembly apart. Check the maintenance manual. My club bought an Archer a while ago which had screwed up rudder trim. No matter what you did with the knob, you had to apply *left* rudder to keep the ball in the center in cruise. Various mechanics poked at it and couldn't fix it (didn't stop them from billing us, though). We finally convinced one guy to actually take the damn thing apart. Turns out some previous repair job had been botched and the wrong part was in there. I don't remember the details, but he got the right part and we were good as new. Before that, we were starting to think of all sorts of crazy things like the wings were screwed on crooked. Rudder trim on a Cherokee is pretty simple. It's a jackscrew with some springs pulling on the rudder bar. It shouldn't take a rocket scientist to make it work right. |
#6
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Jay, mine has a pointer on the top of the thing where the knob is. The pointer
moves forward and aft as you turn the knob. Mine's a '65 Six. I'm sure it can be adjusted, I just don't know the procedure. Probably involves taking the trim screw assembly apart. Check the maintenance manual. Jay Honeck wrote: When I flew it and took it up to cruise, the plane flew straight without that 'banking' feeling. But, my rudder trim continues to be pretty far right. With the rudder trim indicator in the middle, I have to apply a lot of right rudder. Is this normal, or should I get it to the point that I can have the rudder trim centered. On the ground with the front wheel straight and the rudder trim in neutral, the rudder is dead center, too. What kind of rudder trim indicator is on a Six? The same kind that's on a Cherokee - the knob to the right of the emergency brake handle. Okay, well, if that's the case I don't understand the question. How do you know that the rudder trim is "in neutral" when all you've got is a knob that turns? The only way I can tell my rudder trim is "in neutral" is by adjusting it in flight until the ball is centered. I suppose if you're counting the number of turns, lock to lock -- and there's more turns from "neutral" one way than the other -- your A&P can adjust the number of turns around the post for you? On the other hand, what difference does it make, so long as you are able to adjust the trim adequately so that the ball is centered? Or are you concerned that the nosewheel pant is being cocked to the right because you're having to adjust the trim too far one way or the other? This could, I suppose, impart a turning force, given the size of the wheelpant -- but then the ball wouldn't be centered, would it? For my money, if you're able to trim out the rudder forces adequately in all flight regimes, the expense of adjusting the number of turns around the knob isn't worth it. -- Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination" -- --Ray Andraka, P.E. President, the Andraka Consulting Group, Inc. 401/884-7930 Fax 401/884-7950 http://www.andraka.com "They that give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." -Benjamin Franklin, 1759 |
#7
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"And what is neutral". Neutral on your indicator may not be neutral on your
rudder trim itself . Some aircraft are preset with a small amount of deflection in the trim tab at neutral deflection on indicator. This might be the whole problem if the A&P did not check the TCDS for proper settings when he was rigging it. "Roy Smith" wrote in message ... Ray Andraka wrote: Jay, mine has a pointer on the top of the thing where the knob is. The pointer moves forward and aft as you turn the knob. Mine's a '65 Six. I'm sure it can be adjusted, I just don't know the procedure. Probably involves taking the trim screw assembly apart. Check the maintenance manual. My club bought an Archer a while ago which had screwed up rudder trim. No matter what you did with the knob, you had to apply *left* rudder to keep the ball in the center in cruise. Various mechanics poked at it and couldn't fix it (didn't stop them from billing us, though). We finally convinced one guy to actually take the damn thing apart. Turns out some previous repair job had been botched and the wrong part was in there. I don't remember the details, but he got the right part and we were good as new. Before that, we were starting to think of all sorts of crazy things like the wings were screwed on crooked. Rudder trim on a Cherokee is pretty simple. It's a jackscrew with some springs pulling on the rudder bar. It shouldn't take a rocket scientist to make it work right. |
#8
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Jay, mine has a pointer on the top of the thing where the knob is. The
pointer moves forward and aft as you turn the knob. By God, Ray, today Mary and I "discovered" the pointer you are talking about! During a flight to Wisconsin today I mentioned your post to Mary -- and, with the autopilot working again, we had plenty of time to goof around -- so we peered down at our ankles and played with the rudder trim knob, and "found" the rudder trim pointer in the little oval cutout just above the rudder trim knob. Mind you, I've been flying Cherokees for over nine years now, of all flavors and vintages, and have accumulated nearly 800 hours in them -- and I have NEVER seen that pointer there before, nor has anyone ever mentioned it to me. I suppose because it is of such limited value (the pointer moves up and down, for gosh sakes -- what does THAT indicate in side-to-side rudder trim?), and also because it is nearly invisible down there by your shins, neither of us had ever noticed it before! (It doesn't help that our indicator is painted black, instead of white like the rudder trim indicator. I'm going to remedy that next time I've got the touch-up paint out.) So, just when you think you know everything about your airplane, along comes something like this. Next I'll discover that my gear is supposed to retract, or sumpin'... -- Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination" |
#9
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"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:Xw4gb.694888$uu5.112675@sccrnsc04... So, just when you think you know everything about your airplane, along comes something like this. Next I'll discover that my gear is supposed to retract, or sumpin'... The gear 'might' retract if you have a really BAD landing... ;-) |
#10
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Jay:
The little indicator really doesn't go "up and down". The painted line (which is probably faded by now) is a line drawn on the "corkscrew" of the rudder trim knob. As you turn the knob, the bolt (or post or whatever it's attached to -- check the parts manual for the exploded diagram) is rotating, and the line moves. If I remember correctly, as you turn the knob clockwise, the line "moves up" in the little window. have fun! |
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