Hi, Just a couple more points on this topic! Two years ago a friend of mine
with
his owner/build partner flew with one trim tab's pin disengaged (for 200 nm
to the PFA Kemble rally infact!) and they didn't notice any difference! Neither
were very experienced on the Europa at the time though having only recently
finished it. My friend (his turn to fly home) noticed it on his preflight walk
around at Kemble.
I think they were both very lucky. Yesterday, as a result of this topic, when
I was at my plane I deliberately "accidently" rigged the tailplanes with a pin
disengaged, to see what happens to the tab and T-bar. I started with the pin
resting on top of the T-bar. On mine the pin sits naturally on top of the bar
towards the rear of it. On moving the elevator control the pin can very easily
drop to beneath the bar and does so readily. Personally I don't think this
would have an enormous aerodynamic effect, the tab is very light and I think
it would just stream with the airflow if it's not fixed to the actuating
mechanism
(my uneducated opinion) [b:57be851a4b]BUT, what I did notice was that with
the pin below the T-bar, when I moved the stick fully back the pin was able
to drop a bit lower and lodge on top of that funny fuselage joggle/ moulding
that sticks out from the fuselage vertically parallel to the T-bar slot, very
effectively jamming the elevator almost fully up.[/b
:57be851a4b] On mine it did it every time I tried it and was impossible to
free
---From the cockpit.
Easy solution - do not fly a mis-rigged aeroplane!
Cheers, Jon
Visit - www.EuropaOwners.org
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