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Aileron Slight Twist.

G

gonzaviador

I'm New Here
Hi group. This is my first post ever, and looking for your advice. I've finished both airlerons. Right one came perfectly flat, however the left one ended with a slight twist (1/8 in), even though I've weighted flat when drilling/riveting. From the beggining I had issues with that aileron, because it seems that the holes in one of the A-705 Rib didn't match the skin, so when cleco both, it forced a heavy curve at the trailing edge. Vans sent me an undrilled rib that I used to match the skin, and the trailing edge came straight. After finished it and put it over a galss table, I showed this slight twist I'm talking.

My question is if this twist is acceptable or should I make a new aileron.

Thanks a lot.
 
3 options..

1) If you are not satisfied and have the means to build another, better, one, then build another one. Good practice too.
2) If you would like to move on to build other components and decide later, then do that. You can always build another one later.
3) If you're deadset on not redoing the work, then you'll likely have to counteract the twist in some other way, either statically or with flight controls as you fly. Go look at the rental spamcans, and you will likely see more than their fair share of twists, dings and bends. They work, but is that what you want your bird to look like? = OCD mentality

1/8" is probably not a big deal.
 
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On one of my aileron skins the trailing edge bend was slightly off from the factory. I could put it all together, but not without a twist. I had enough photographic documentation that Van's replaced it without question.
 
I agree with Miles. Although rare, sometimes you do get a bad part from Van's. I recall having a flap skin where the holes were better than 1/2" off. I contacted Van's and they immediately sent a new set of skins and the problem was fixed! Occasionally, defects do slip through the production line and make it into the crate as undesirable as that is. Fortunately, the Flap skin issue was the only quality issue I saw out of the plethora of parts in the kit.
 
Twist

I'm surprised at the general nature of the comments. I don't think it would make any noticeable difference. I would venture a guess that you have a lot more chance of introducing a bit of roll with a fraction of one degree error in incidence. I say if it isn't going to set off your OCD alarms and keep you up at night..........build on ;)
 
DaAV8R said:
I'm surprised at the general nature of the comments. I don't think it would make any noticeable difference. I would venture a guess that you have a lot more chance of introducing a bit of roll with a fraction of one degree error in incidence. I say if it isn't going to set off your OCD alarms and keep you up at night..........build on ;)
Click to expand...

I'm completely with Robert on this one.
 
When you say 1/8, I am guessing that - flat on the table - one end is 1/8" high while the other rests on the table? If that's the case, build on. When you rig it, you may start with it at 'average' position but that may change during flight test. And, once flying, you will be hard put to notice it. Only on the ground with careful measurement will it be noticeable. Don't let the quest for the perfect RV keep you from finishing.
 
1/8" across the span is nothing. It might not even be a "twist". You would have to measure the relative angle of the spar to the chord across the span to determine if it is truly a twist or something more like a wash out. Doesn't matter.

Keep that level of your quality up and you will have a fast, fun, and well flying airplane.
 
Thank you very much group. I really appreciate your advice.

Yes, having the aileron flat on the table, the trailing edge on one side is 1/8 up.

Thanks again. I'll keep building!!!!
 
A similar, but not identical issue ...

When I first assembled all the tail feathers on my bird, a taught string showed 1/4" of twist across the width the elevator. I called Vans, who told me, "Build on. That amount of twist is aerodynamically insignificant. ". Seems like 1/8" of twist in an aileron would fall in the same category.
 
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