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Left Wing Heavy RV6A

I did not want to steal "Right wing Heavy's post".
my RV6A rolls left I can trim mine to fly hands off with the aileron trim at the 2-oclock position. Is there a way to adjust the rigging in this case? Should i examine the trailing edge in this case also? Do the ailerons apply as well?
 
Looking at the same thing on my -6A but I don't have the roll trim spings installed yet.

Is it left side heavy flying solo or with two equal weight folks on board?
 
The heavy wing FAQ is helpful. I had a heavy right wing and I squeezed the left aileron trailing edge which didn't help that much. I finally got serious, made a plywood airfoil template, and found the the right aileron was a bit high. When I fixed that, the heavy wing moved to the left side. I tapped the trailing edge with a wood block and all is now good. Check your aileron hinge height carefully before you get medieval on it.

Ed Holyoke
 
Template

The heavy wing FAQ is helpful. I had a heavy right wing and I squeezed the left aileron trailing edge which didn't help that much. I finally got serious, made a plywood airfoil template, and found the the right aileron was a bit high. When I fixed that, the heavy wing moved to the left side. I tapped the trailing edge with a wood block and all is now good. Check your aileron hinge height carefully before you get medieval on it.

Ed Holyoke

Ed,
Would you describe your process of building an airfoil plywood template?
Obviously the plans are not full scale.
Do you or I just use the actual finished wing as a male side and extend the top and bottom skin lines back to an intersection point?
Thanks
 
I have a heavy wing as well and working through the document with some assistance from Eric at Vans. The final solution has not been reached, but in hearing about the aileron "height" made this to understand what it is supposed to be.

The aero guys could help here too. The B zone on mine droops a little due to the installation of that brace (aileron fairing). The A point seems like it should be exactly in line with the extended (straight) line of zones B and C. I am assuming aileron height is relative to that line? Suppose that A is in line but the zone B is drooped by a mm, what effect would that have?

t-6t9pLrKS-EyHwqIHJOdcyVwYO__ZCf_tf3IcO2g5f-iP5DMGP6cSqQDQbiG9-sGg0LxdEaI0aqMTDuMncEP9UHB73M8kKLuvLo7Er8C3WfGL8E1UgoWgXxvS80LCGuOPKvPYVkKg9RLCnBHYbAk6ELhD1BJh4OGVzUpyQMly6LrOqPnua5zhFlt5g5uXcDDy8MvpqwwocnYe4q_1nyov3Vfn6FWfPz8jKoX-7bmoCXQ4m76d8upqfLaaz4t4PseShQOB9CDc3Gmzxq15tbeTmW17scFW1GX5n2xiqKnR2eYsSrujQ6zAb3uJhDgPKGw1i110FWC_pYRYdHVf1Awlvl8c4l4H8G9zWcdAN6YkjW49iqzPrFhCJOXt0AUpvZL750IA9LusbBOJzW_YuAC7OuNtR39DHJbIqop74diOd8lVwwCWPxANgcbNp5NdJQgItU59eHkZXDbli9W1IeJ7Z5NaE_2w9iqIz89p1X-qor2nyLqXwQBIeqgTE_nEl1UUaq6-8ehP9OjTQDlQLvUK7OmshQL823WpIbfeVYet0XUrlh8rs3iH3NJj8rmxbcecB-n0Cpm4GhEGdugx4UJ9d8ugrQPkX_fllAMMukxS9xejivssoCoozAUqJKaRBxD1moBhkaKd5kMmjn_0djUSc26aboZWcq=w604-h329-no
 
The ailerons by design are a bit fat in thickness, so the top and bottom surface of the aileron wont ever be perfectly coincident with the top and bottom skins of the wing.
 
Template

The ailerons by design are a bit fat in thickness, so the top and bottom surface of the aileron wont ever be perfectly coincident with the top and bottom skins of the wing.

Ok, I hear you say they won't ever be perfectly lined up.
What is the process of alignment?
Ed says make a template, I assume to check alignment.
I read about others raising or lowering the attach bracket by 16th's of an inch to cure issues.
Are they just suposed to be the same on each end and each side, as oposed to being perfect alignment?
 
Ed,
Would you describe your process of building an airfoil plywood template?
Obviously the plans are not full scale.
Do you or I just use the actual finished wing as a male side and extend the top and bottom skin lines back to an intersection point?
Thanks

I could never get any of the templates cut accurately enough to get good alignment on my -6A.

Instead I used two flexible yardsticks laid chord-wise, one on each surface of the wing, and flexed them to meet at the trailing edge. Just envision the flexible rulers as the airflow and get an idea of the top and bottom surface 'smoothness' to this airflow.

As Scott says the aileron is a little 'fatter' than the aft end of the wing so these yard sticks can see if the 'bulge' is equal on the top and bottom surfaces. This method will also check for a top surface skin 'ski-jump'.
 
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I initially used the yardstick method and that's what got me into trouble it seems. Maybe it was too flexible. I thought I had it right, but no.

I bought the full size template from Van's, cut it out with scissors, and traced it onto a piece of plywood. I cut it out with a jigsaw, going slow to try and be accurate. I spliced a couple of vertical strips of ply across it ahead of the leading edge and aft of the trailing edge with 4 bolts in each strip. Then I removed the strips and split the template at the leading and trailing edges. Once the strips were bolted back on, I had a template that I could place at any location spanwise on the wing. Yes, there was a bit of estimating involved, but it did show up pretty clearly where I had an alignment problem that wasn't obvious without the template. I moved the hinges to get the aileron where it needed to be and, with the ailerons clamped in trail, re-adjusted the push/pull tubes to get the stick vertical. I don't think I spent more than about a day's worth of work on the whole project and it made a big difference in how she flies.

Ed Holyoke



I could never get any of the templates cut accurately enough to get good alignment on my -6A.

Instead I used two flexible yardsticks laid chord-wise, one on each surface of the wing, and flexed them to meet at the trailing edge. Just envision the flexible rulers as the airflow and get an idea of the top and bottom surface 'smoothness' to this airflow.

As Scott says the aileron is a little 'fatter' than the aft end of the wing so these yard sticks can see if the 'bulge' is equal on the top and bottom surfaces. This method will also check for a top surface skin 'ski-jump'.
 
Template from Van's

Search Term: DOC AIRFOIL TEMPLATE
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WING TEMPLATE 4/6/7/8
DOC AIRFOIL TEMPLATE

$5.00

This is full scale.

Ed Holyoke

Ed,
Would you describe your process of building an airfoil plywood template?
Obviously the plans are not full scale.
Do you or I just use the actual finished wing as a male side and extend the top and bottom skin lines back to an intersection point?
Thanks
 
Near final resolution - balanced flight

I have a heavy wing as well and working through the document with some assistance from Eric at Vans. The final solution has not been reached, but in hearing about the aileron "height" made this to understand what it is supposed to be.

The aero guys could help here too. The B zone on mine droops a little due to the installation of that brace (aileron fairing). The A point seems like it should be exactly in line with the extended (straight) line of zones B and C. I am assuming aileron height is relative to that line? Suppose that A is in line but the zone B is drooped by a mm, what effect would that have?

t-6t9pLrKS-EyHwqIHJOdcyVwYO__ZCf_tf3IcO2g5f-iP5DMGP6cSqQDQbiG9-sGg0LxdEaI0aqMTDuMncEP9UHB73M8kKLuvLo7Er8C3WfGL8E1UgoWgXxvS80LCGuOPKvPYVkKg9RLCnBHYbAk6ELhD1BJh4OGVzUpyQMly6LrOqPnua5zhFlt5g5uXcDDy8MvpqwwocnYe4q_1nyov3Vfn6FWfPz8jKoX-7bmoCXQ4m76d8upqfLaaz4t4PseShQOB9CDc3Gmzxq15tbeTmW17scFW1GX5n2xiqKnR2eYsSrujQ6zAb3uJhDgPKGw1i110FWC_pYRYdHVf1Awlvl8c4l4H8G9zWcdAN6YkjW49iqzPrFhCJOXt0AUpvZL750IA9LusbBOJzW_YuAC7OuNtR39DHJbIqop74diOd8lVwwCWPxANgcbNp5NdJQgItU59eHkZXDbli9W1IeJ7Z5NaE_2w9iqIz89p1X-qor2nyLqXwQBIeqgTE_nEl1UUaq6-8ehP9OjTQDlQLvUK7OmshQL823WpIbfeVYet0XUrlh8rs3iH3NJj8rmxbcecB-n0Cpm4GhEGdugx4UJ9d8ugrQPkX_fllAMMukxS9xejivssoCoozAUqJKaRBxD1moBhkaKd5kMmjn_0djUSc26aboZWcq=w604-h329-no

I'm going to quote myself. :eek:

My heavy wing is resolved. I shimmed so the zone B was raised by .040". Then I had 3 low hinge points and one nearly even. After remeasuring the "height" it confirmed the three had to be raised. The left outboard was raised 1/16" initially, but lowered 1/32" for improvement. The right inboard 1/16", right outboard .050", final was increased to 1/16". It now seems to fly balanced. I squeezed the right (light) aileron so will raise the outer hinge another tiny bit to get a little heaviness on the right side. Then after transferring all the new hole locations to new hinges, I can squeeze the left aileron to balance if needed.

I was at the end of my rope making changes I did not understand, so contacted a couple of our most experienced VAF members, both quite knowledgeable. A series of email discussions and them sharing some measurements too, solidified the final plan. They gave me confidence in the fundamentals of the plan and I just carried it out. VAF members to the rescue . . . again. Very satisfying to have this resolved as it had to be dealt with each flight.

This experience leads me to say, check everything then move the hinges to effect real change. Squeeze last.
 
I'm going to quote myself. :eek:

My heavy wing is resolved. I shimmed so the zone B was raised by .040". Then I had 3 low hinge points and one nearly even. After remeasuring the "height" it confirmed the three had to be raised. The left outboard was raised 1/16" initially, but lowered 1/32" for improvement. The right inboard 1/16", right outboard .050", final was increased to 1/16". It now seems to fly balanced. I squeezed the right (light) aileron so will raise the outer hinge another tiny bit to get a little heaviness on the right side. Then after transferring all the new hole locations to new hinges, I can squeeze the left aileron to balance if needed.

I was at the end of my rope making changes I did not understand, so contacted a couple of our most experienced VAF members, both quite knowledgeable. A series of email discussions and them sharing some measurements too, solidified the final plan. They gave me confidence in the fundamentals of the plan and I just carried it out. VAF members to the rescue . . . again. Very satisfying to have this resolved as it had to be dealt with each flight.

This experience leads me to say, check everything then move the hinges to effect real change. Squeeze last.

Did the experienced VAF members mention that by design the aileron is slightly thicker than the profile of the wing, so the top should be above the skin of the wing slightly (like you have depicted with your red line)?
 
I just solved my heavy wing issue by raising the inboard end of the right aileron by about 1/16-3/32. The amount was so small i did not expect any change. But, I was pleasantly surprised that my manual aileron trim now is centered instead of being offset a lot to the left. Bruce Estes. RV6.
 
Did the experienced VAF members mention that by design the aileron is slightly thicker than the profile of the wing, so the top should be above the skin of the wing slightly (like you have depicted with your red line)?

No, but you did in the post above, and all my measurements had both of them way too low. So their suggestion to raise them was very consistent with your information. Now that I understand this geometry a tiny bit better, your implied suggestion comes through, but honestly, it didn't at the time.

Email sent to you, Scott.
 
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