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psm(at)att.net
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 Posted: Fri Nov 25, 2011 7:01 pm Post subject: Strakes, was Question on Aileron Stop 650 |
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That Heintz clan can be hard to keep up with and get straight in your head.
I am glad to report I am finally happy with my Zodiac XL. For a long time there I was afraid it would wind up being a flower planter in my front yard.
After dealing with simple engine problems I finally reached the flight test stage where I needed to characterize how my plane flies. The flights have been mostly non-events and not at all exciting up to this point, but there was one where the engine ran very roughly and cut out several times due to a loose carburetor. I also had a leaky oil cooler hose but that showed up after initial taxi testing before the first flight.
What I found was there was absolutely no yaw stability in my plane and also no roll stability. That means if you get it flying straight and level and upset it in yaw or roll it doesn't even try to return to the straight and level condition. With this condition I found it very hard to get landings to work properly since I couldn't get it going straight down the runway for touchdown of either the mains or nose gear.
My first "Solution" to this problem was to add a white line on top of the engine cowl so I could see which way the plane was pointing. That helped, but I still was unhappy. Then I added "Strakes" to the bottom rear of the fuselage. The hope was to make it want to fly straight. It seems to have worked to some extent because I found I didn't have to work to get it flying straight - it just came out that way. This was due to a little help from the strakes and my own control input. The plane will still not recover from any upset but I think it is a lot nicer to fly now.
Here are a couple of pictures of the strakes I made. The material I used was .050 6061T6. I mounted it using the existing holes in the bottom skin and longerons but I increased the rivet size from A4 to A5.
[img]cid:part1.06080205.01030807(at)att.net[/img]
[img]cid:part2.09080303.03090004(at)att.net[/img]
I didn't patent my strakes, so anybody who wants is welcome to use this idea at their own risk.
Paul
Camas, WA
On 11/25/2011 5:55 PM, Jeff Davidson wrote: [quote] [quote]--> Zenith-List message posted by: Jeff Davidson <jeffrey_davidson(at)earthlink.net> (jeffrey_davidson(at)earthlink.net) Evidently AMD lives on as Eastman Aircraft. There is a web site and the building and the address appear to be the same. I talked to Doug Dugger at Oshkosh. He is the owner on the West Coast now. Michael Heintz evidently has gone back to Europe. Jeff D --
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