More on rigging
I may later make some out of 4130 tube. Another related question on
how to adjust the flaps. In the zero position what is the reference in relation
to the wing? Do I use a straight edge to align with top or bottom of wing?
Thanks
Jim Miller
I'm a bit late to this party, but I highly recommend building a female airfoil
template out of plywood to assist with rigging flaps and ailerons. This is
made by laying out a full size wing cross section on a piece of 1/4" plywood
or similar. Use the dimensions shown on the wing rib plans. Cut out the
interior portion of the profile and separate the upper and lower halves
at the wing leading and trailing edges. Then put the two halves back
together with "hinges". I made hinges by fastening small plywood
scraps across the fore and aft joints in the plywood templates. The
scraps are glued to the upper template and "pinned" to the lower
template with an AN3 bolt. This allows you to easily assemble the
template around the completed wing and will precisely locate the
trailing edges of your flaps and ailerons. It can also be used when
drilling the flap brace and aileron hinge brackets to the rear spar.
This is much more accurate than depending on the wingtips as an
"in trail" reference for your control surfaces. Ideally, you would
use the template to align the ailerons first, and then "adjust/modify"
the wingtips to get their trailing edges into alignment. I credit
this technique for helping my RV-3B fly straight with no need for
aileron trim.
- Dan Benua
Tech Counselor
Repeat Offender