EFWD Build

[efwd]

Okay the actual numbers on my wheight are 834#. Weight perfectly divided between the two main gears. Tail wheel was 62# This is a nearly fully loaded S7 SS with 912is engine, whirlwind prop, Garmin suite with 10 and 7 inch screens, auto pilot and Oratex fabric. If you have the Laker leading edge you can expect those few pounds additional. My airplane seemed bigger when in my garage. Wide open space of the hangar has shrunk it a bit. Then comes Randy. My plane became a Shriner looking thing in a parade with him in it. You remember the little cars those guys drove around in parades right? So, thanks for the compliments Randy and making me feel more appreciative about my little a.. once more. I'd still accept some additional height though!

[aviator79]

Good weight Eddie. Well done. One step closer to being airborne.

[efwd]

I installed the elevator assist spring yesterday. Wow, it neutralized the weight of the elevator 100%. Ok, no lubrication on the elevator bearings yet, but wherever I put the stick the elvator stays now. Prior to this spring the elevator weighed what it weighed and just fell down when you let go of the stick. No more. Nice. If you have attached an auto pilot pitch servo to the pitch bellcrank You will need to modify this trim assist device to make it work.
In preparation of swapping the tires out to the 22" Dessers, I did the toe in toe out check again. This time I checked it in flight level position as Grove suggests. Whatever caused the different findings, my new measurements seem to suggest I won't need the $63 worth of shims I had purchased based on the previous measurements. I also won't need the longer axle attach bolts to accommodate the shim thickness.

[jiott]

Eddie, your toe-in/out results match mine and many others with the Grove gear in flight level position-no shims needed. It is not surprising since Grove MACHINES those axel mounting pads to be very accurately located, as opposed to other types of gear where the axels depend on a weld fixture or bent tubes.

Also you weight is exactly the weight of mine, within one pond.

[jrevens]

Hi Eddie,
This is my opinion-
Due to the initial excessive camber on the Grove gear, you will find that you have a considerable amount of toe-in in the 3 point attitude. I had 1 deg. Toe-in is destabilizing on a taildragger. As the airplane is loaded with more weight the camber will decrease to a certain extent. If you shim to correct the camber, the alignment will remain correct whether level or three-point. If you shim to correct the toe-out in the 3-point attitude you will have some toe-out when level, which is not necessarily bad if it isn’t excessive - a little toe-out is actually stabilizing on a taildragger. Since the vast majority of rolling wheel contact with the ground is in the 3-point attitude, the most important and desirable situation is to have neutral (or very slight toe-out) alignment when in that attitude, however you do it. Of course, as the airplane is loaded with more weight, or as the Grove gear “relaxes” with use & age, the excessive camber will diminish and shimming requirements, if any, will diminish. Most people probably don’t perceive any problem with the gear as received, but I found a definite improvement in handling after minimizing or eliminating the toe-in in the 3-point attitude.

[jrevens]

...If you shim to correct the toe-out in the 3-point attitude you will have some toe-out when level, which is not necessarily bad if it isn’t excessive - a little toe-out is actually stabilizing on a taildragger. ...

I meant to say “If you shim to correct the TOE-IN...”, not toe-out.

[NinerBikes]

Okay the actual numbers on my wheight are 834#. Weight perfectly divided between the two main gears. Tail wheel was 62# This is a nearly fully loaded S7 SS with 912is engine, whirlwind prop, Garmin suite with 10 and 7 inch screens, auto pilot and Oratex fabric. If you have the Laker leading edge you can expect those few pounds additional. My airplane seemed bigger when in my garage. Wide open space of the hangar has shrunk it a bit. Then comes Randy. My plane became a Shriner looking thing in a parade with him in it. You remember the little cars those guys drove around in parades right? So, thanks for the compliments Randy and making me feel more appreciative about my little a.. once more. I'd still accept some additional height though!

I've no idea what it looked like with me in it. From the outside, she's getting mighty close, me thinks, to getting inspected so that you can fly it for it's first 40 hours. Gives me some time to mtn bike ride again and lose the bush tire sized Wide "O" oval belly that I'm currently sporting.

I think you're some hours off before taking passengers in your Experimental.

[Flybyjim]

So how did the addition of the spring change your AP servo setup?

[efwd]

Jim, John thanks for the reply. Im in the middle of changing out my tires. Only one on so far but this morning it will be complete. These airplanes look so much better (IMHO) with a bit bigger tire.
Yep, it will be a bit more time before Im comfortable flying it alone let alone with passengers. I really want to fly with S&R again before taking it up. I may have to just go local and try out a Citabria.
Ultimately my AP pitch servo install is intact. The spring did not affect my AP servo install at all. What did have to be modified was the bracket that mounts to the elevator idler bellcrank. To attach the servo to the pitch control system my custom made push pull tube is attached to the same elevator idler bellcrank via an adell clamp that I adhered to the tube. Fortunately the adell is low enough that I could put a notch in the new bracket that, for the most part, allows the adell to lay in the recess that the notch provides. The bracket is supposed to be attached to the bellcrank with hysol and two hose clamps. My clamps will have to due because I would not be able to remove the bolt holding the clevis end of the AP servo link to the bellcrank if I permanently adhere it to the bellcrank. If I could weld I would have just welded on another tab to this new bracket and then hooked my servo to that in addition to the new spring. Then it would all be permanent. In the end, I feel that should the clamps fail somehow, I would just get the added weight of the elevator transferring into the stick. Same thing would happen if the spring were to snap. I bet it would be an interesting sensation if it were to happen on short final.

[efwd]

BUMMER! Long ago, I recall someone stating that we should not trim the rudder stop from the aircraft until some later time. Well, at that time I had just done it about 2 weeks prior. I now know why you shouldn't. I noticed today that my rudder swings farther than I originally set it. Off the top of my head I don't recall the angle the rudder is supposed to swing but mine swings and hits the elevator. I did as the manual suggests, leave the small gap between the leading edge rudder close out and the trailing edge of the vertical stab.. I obviously ended up filling that gap plus some once I put the Oratex on all those surfaces. When I put the rudder on I ended up having to turn the rod end bearings out .5 to 1.5 rotations. Well you know where this is going. the additional distance between the stop and the rudder allowed the rudder to swing further. I get to fashion up an adjustable stop! And, I don't much enjoy the thought of trying to get those rudder mount bolts in again. I Got the 22" tires on it today. Funny, they look bigger and nicer in person. I look at the pictures I took and they just look like the right size for the airplane. Started to think about the 26" ones someone is selling. I just can't justify those really. At least until I start doing real Back country stuff.