How do you twist the aileron assembly to remove twist without damaging the aileron?

[bacstabber]

I assembled my left aileron without any twist issues that I know of now. But after assembling the right aileron and measuring the outboard edges with a level, there is about a 1.5 º difference and when I lay the aileron on a flat table, one end is raised above the surface.

The instructions tells you to apply a twist to the aileron assembly in the opposite direction to remove the twist. Without specific instructions, I have no clue as to how to do this without being sure that I won't damage my aileron. I imagine that I would clamp one end of the aileron to the table and then apply a twist force on the opposite end. Would I have to elevate the whole aileron to give it freedom to move along the entire length? Do I have to clamp down the end that I am trying to correct and apply the force on the opposite end?

I'm sure that many others have figured this out. I would appreciate you sharing your techniques, and pictures if you have them, that worked best for taking out the twist before I close the "D" shaped cell of the aileron.

Thanks.

 

[Walt D]

I assembled my left aileron without any twist issues that I know of now. But after assembling the right aileron and measuring the outboard edges with a level, there is about a 1.5 º difference and when I lay the aileron on a flat table, one end is raised above the surface.

The instructions tells you to apply a twist to the aileron assembly in the opposite direction to remove the twist. Without specific instructions, I have no clue as to how to do this without being sure that I won't damage my aileron. I imagine that I would clamp one end of the aileron to the table and then apply a twist force on the opposite end. Would I have to elevate the whole aileron to give it freedom to move along the entire length? Do I have to clamp down the end that I am trying to correct and apply the force on the opposite end?

I'm sure that many others have figured this out. I would appreciate you sharing your techniques, and pictures if you have them, that worked best for taking out the twist before I close the "D" shaped cell of the aileron.

Thanks.

For some reason, I found it hard to get the twist out of these things. One thing is to make sure there is no "pre - twist", caused by the front counterweight and it's fasteners. I Had to rebuild one from scratch. Once you've riveted the thing, it's not going to move much. My best advice unfortunately is to try and make sure the thing is straight as possible as you go through the rivet process. I'll attempt to recall the details of what I did during the 2nd attempt. IMO though, if it's just 1.5 degrees, maybe it's OK.

 

[planenutz]

If the twist is significant and can't be tweaked back to where you want it to be mechanically then the best option is going to be to release some of the rivets on the trailing edge. You probably won't need to remove all of them so once you have enough rivets removed to allow the aileron to remain straight, replace the rivets while making sure the aileron is flat. If you start at one end and make your way to the other end it will likely stretch the material and induce more of a twist, so try alternating your rivet placement. You'll need to be very careful.

 

[bacstabber]

The good news is that I have not riveted the aileron entirely together. I riveted the top skin to the spar and clecoed the bottom skin to the spar and checked the ends with a straight edge to compare the degree readings. This is where I see the 1.5º difference showing a twist. The instructions say that this can be corrected by twisting the "Aileron Assembly" to remove the twist. The technique for doing this has me baffled. Until I discover the way to twist the Assembly without doing damage to the aileron so far constructed, I hesitate to move on with the build. I will try to contact Van's but the hours of support are not convenient for me.

 

[bacstabber]

Thanks to Van’s Customer Support, I made 2 V-Cradles, similar to the cradles used to build a RV-8 control surface, for my RV-14 aileron. I clamped one cradle to the bench while I applied a torque to the other end cradle in the opposite direction of the twist. I was able to get the digital level values, taken over the main ribs on the aileron ends, within 0.05° on the second effort. I’m very happy with the results.