Yes trimming is something Im pretty clueless at. An don't have anyone that knows what to look for. After the first flight an not getting the tach to work right the motor was definitely running to slow. But got the tach reading right an got it cranked up to somewhere around 9400-9600 that LA was awesome. Wing over felt good so I went for it. Have been working on square loops.
I have a old Nobler the flap fell off in flight last year, fixed all the old torn hinges. Now it flies nose up all the time. Going to have to cut into it an try to add a adjustable pushrod to try to fix that I guess.
I see Brett posted while I was writing, but that clarifies something that I miss-stated, and so I'll go ahead and post my thoughts.
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Well, clueless or not, you have more skills than I'd guessed(shame on me) when you first came on the scene.
The easiest trim item you can check from your pilot's vantage point is the amount of yaw toward the outside of the circle. This depends on two things, the first can be checked in the shop as follows:
Clamp the elevator and stabilizer with a couple of pieces of wood so that it's exactly neutral. Then hang the plane from the leadouts and see that the nose is pointed a couple of degrees down. If you have a straight un-swept Lead Edge, you can eyeball the wing against something you know is vertical in the background, like a vertical door frame or paneling joint on the wall. If it's not, you can adjust the leadout position until you have a slight nose-down attitude. Sliding them aft increases the nose down attitude, which translates in flight to outward yaw.
The second thing you can check by yourself depends on the LG being exactly parallel with each other. When you look at the wheels in level flight, what you want to see is the outboard wheel peeking out behind the inboard wheel. But not completely, the OB wheel should be partially eclipsed by the Inb wheel. This can be adjusted by engine offset(thrust angle). Engines are generally shimmed to the outboard direction by 1-3 degrees. For profile models, you can buy or make wedge shaped engine bearers that accomplish this. On built up full fuselage planes like your SS, I don't know how the experts do it, but I hog out the mounting holes on the engine so I can twist it slightly toward the OB side.
These are good things to address before the maiden flight. But adjusting leadout position affects a lot more than simple static yaw, and you'll need to learn to adjust this for proper line tension, both for level flight, and overhead flight. And you'll frequently have to compromise to find your personal favorite position.
It helps to have a buddy for in-flight details. You need to teach him/her to check for level wings. And it helps if it's a calm flying day. Have him watch you fly low steady flat laps. Imagine the lines as a straight line, continuing on through the wing, and exiting out the other side into space as a straight line. If the wing is level, the imaginary line will of course exit the outboard wing's tip. He must make a note as to whether the outboard wing is Tip-High or Tip-Low. Those are the terms my buddy and I use. Give him about 10 laps and then go inverted for the same check. If it's tip-high or low both ways, adjust your tip weight. If it's one way upright and the other way inverted, carefully bend the flap horn to equalize it. There is plenty more, but if you get those basics, you'll be flying a safe plane that won't come in and chase you.
There is a good thread on flight-trimming and one on bench-trimming here at Stunthangar. Maybe someone who knows can give you the link.
Hope that's some help.
Rusty
Topic: First Experience with LA46 (Read 8381 times)
