Design > Stunt design
Thinned elevators
Ken Culbertson:
Elevator slop was very popular in the late 70's and into the 80's. I used it and so did some of the big names of the day, but it simply did not work as we thought. What it does is allow slight flap movement before the elevator moves. This causes the plane to go in the opposite direction slightly before the elevator makes it go where you want it to go. It may have some benefit in stopping the mildest of hunting from starting but it also makes it nearly impossible to stop it once it starts. It can cause flats in the intersections of round maneuvers and that nasty wiggle locking out of corners - flap with no elevator and the plane goes the wrong way. If you must have intentional slop, make it at the flap horn, not the elevator, but then only if the controls are so free that they will self-center in the airstream. I agree with Brett that you need to reduce sensitivity through trim and study your grip as well.
Try some of the elevator TE fences we batted around a few months ago. I have them on all of my planes now.
Ken
Clint Ormosen:
--- Quote from: Brett Buck on April 29, 2023, 09:00:41 PM --- I am not sure why you want that, but if you want to try it, use Larry Renger's exponential handle. No airplane modifications required.
I am curious what problem you are having, because that is not normally a problem we have, in fact, it's the other way around. I submit it might be a trim or design issue.
Brett
--- End quote ---
For me it’s always the same issue regardless of what model I’m flying. I’m always wanting to make small height adjustments while in level flight, either upright or inverted, without the plane jumping around or having the nose pitch up or down. I can set the handle up to be insensitive enough to achieve this, but then it requires too much control inputs for the rest of the pattern.
Ken Culbertson:
--- Quote from: Clint Ormosen on May 02, 2023, 12:47:24 AM ---For me it’s always the same issue regardless of what model I’m flying. I’m always wanting to make small height adjustments while in level flight, either upright or inverted, without the plane jumping around or having the nose pitch up or down. I can set the handle up to be insensitive enough to achieve this, but then it requires too much control inputs for the rest of the pattern.
--- End quote ---
I cannot speak for others because our ways for dealing with this are all over the place. What I can say is having any slop in the controls will not work if you are giving the plane *conscious* control inputs. For large changes like turbulence of a wind shift, etc. yes, you need conscious inputs but not for the small stuff and drifting. For me this had always been a problem until some unnamed expert on handle position convinced me to drop the palms up grip. Once I got my brain retrained to not do that automatically I discovered that I rarely had to make those little adjustments anymore and when the plane did start to drift, I let my subconscious do the correction by just thinking up or down. The problem with the conscious is that by the time you know you need to make an adjustment it is too late to make one that is not noticed. That is just my method of dealing with it.
ken
Steve Glass:
--- Quote from: Ken Culbertson on April 05, 2023, 11:02:40 PM ---In the "for what it is worth" department, the picture below is the stab airfoil I have been using the past 4-5 years. The plate on the TE is new and PERMANENT. No slop. The stab is 1/2" and the elevator 3/8". I use Robart hinges on the elevator only with the pocket in the stab. With the rounding of the stab TE the elevator keeps the curvature of the upper surface and the airflow does not separate until it hits that mini wall at the end.
--- End quote ---
Ken, do you seal the hinge-gap on your tailplanes? If so, how?
Steve
Ken Culbertson:
--- Quote from: Steve Glass on June 26, 2023, 11:11:00 AM ---Ken, do you seal the hinge-gap on your tailplanes? If so, how?
Steve
--- End quote ---
Yes, with a full span "scocth" tape.
Ken
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