AVIATOR pOinls - American Bonanza Society

Correcting rigging
Garrett Rose, Bend. Oregon
Q: [recently purchased a 1979 E55.
When I went for a prepurchase test
flight, the plane flew straight. After [
purchased the aircraft, [ had factory
remans installed. My mechanic noticed
that both the aileron and elevator cable
tensions were quite loose so he rigged
them to the Beech Service Manual
specs. He did not adjust the flaps. Now
the planes flies left-wing heavy.
To be able to fly wings level, I have
to input about a quarter tum to the right
on the yoke. To fly hands-off, [ tum the
aileron trim all the way to the right. I
have not found anything in the service
manual that addresses a wing-heavy
issue. The airplane was recently weighed
and there was only a 20-pound difference
between the right and left sides.
A: The first thing [ would look at is
the static rigging of the aircraft. When
rigged correctly, the trailing edge of the
flaps should be even with the bottom of
the fuselage and then the ailerons
should be rigged so they are even with
the flaps and not the wing tip, and the
control wheel centered.
Look at the elevators to see if they
are even in the neutral position. If not,
you will need to rig the elevator system
as per the maintenance manual. In addition,
make sure the aileron trim tab in
neutral matches the trim indicator.
Check your elevator trim tabs in the
neutral position to see if they also agree
with the indicator. -BR
Elevator skin crack
Eric Bale, Madison, Alabama
Q: [have a Baron 58. On the topside
ofthe RH elevator, there is a 1.75" crack
in the elevator skin emanating from the
outboard comer radius of the trim tab
cutout area. 1 have stop-drilled the crack
and it has not grown.
[ cannot find any inspection or
repair data in my Beech service manuals
for this area. [s stop-drilling acceptable
The repair shop I called claimed that 1
must reskin the entire elevator.
A: There are no published approved
repairs to the elevator skins. We tend to
support the reskinning approach. We
have seen some patches in that area, but
none with approval paperwork. -NP
Adjusting wing angle
Barry Beaver. Shelby. North Carolina
Q: [ have a 1960 M35. After the rig
adjustment, the yoke is to the left at 8 and
2 o'clock. The right aileron is I" below
the flap edge in flight. The ball is 114 right
of center. On the ground, yokes are
straight across 9 and 3 o'clock and the
ailerons are level. But in flight it changes.
I had a shop use the rigging tools
and they stated the plane is balanced.
Could this be a wing-adjustment problem
On the previous attempt, the
mechanic did move the chain one
sprocket to the left. Also the current shop
told me there isn't any wing adjustment,
but I think there is.
A: Yes, the wing angle of incidence
can be adjusted slightly. I doubt that
needs to be done though, since many
other maintenance activities could have
caused the problem, such as during the
completion of an AD note, or checking
the rudder rods for corrosion. Many
times they were off a turn or so going
back together and that can attempt to
roll the airplane. A good rigging shop,
Kalamazoo Aircraft in MiChigan (269-
381 -0790), ntight come out to help your
mechanic. - NP
V-Tail elevator hinge play
AI Boyce. Coronado, California
Q: During an ABS-ASF Service
Clinic inspection, Bob Olson found
excessive wear in the left middle hinge
bearing on my K35. I asked to have the
bearing replaced during its annual
inspection to correct the play. They did
so, but did not replace the elevator hinge
bracket, which now seems to me should
have also been done when the elevator
was off.
I find there is sti ll as much radial
play at that middle hinge. Upon close
in spec ti on, movement can be seen
between the hinge bracket (PIN 35-
650122-8) and the attaching AN23-14
bolt, as though the holes in the bracket
are elongated.
I figured that new ntiddIe and outboard
hinge brackets should be
installed, so I ordered the parts from
RAPID along with new AN23-14 bolts.
I was surprised to find that when the
new bolts were inserted into the bracket
holes, the fit was not close and probably
there is now as much playas in the original
bracket.
When J questioned the shop that
installed the new bearing, they said that
the AN23-14 should be tightened down
against the "spacer" (which I assume is
the bearing) to stop the movement. That
would mean pinching the ears of the
hinge bracket against the new bearing.
This does not seem right to me, but
since the new brackets from RAPID
have a loose fit with the A 23 bolts,
maybe that'S the way the installation
was designed. What is the proper
method for that installation
It seems to me that the new brackets
from RAPID should have a close fit
with new AN23-14 attaching bolts, but
they don't. Is it due to bad parts For
safety's sake I'd like to get that movement
out of the hinge assembly, so I'd
appreciate some guidance.
A: We believe that the looseness
experienced with new parts is excessive
and we have repeatedly complained to
Hawker Beechcraft upper-level people
about it. The advice we give is that if
you can feel the play but not see it, you
are better off leaving it alone.
The idea of tightening the bolt to