Aileron Sag

Roll w/it

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Mar 31, 2021
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UT
Howdy, I'm new to the forum. When the ailerons were rigged on my 7ECA-150 (same as 7GCAA), the tighter the turnbuckle was in the over-head cabin through cable, the more each aileron drooped. The cable is lose enough that I can hear it dragging inside the wings while stationary. In flight however, both ailerons come up and are flush with the trailing edge of the wings. Is there another location or adjustment that can be made to tighten the cable to take the slack out and to get the ailerons to sit flush with the trailing edge while stationary, or are they fine?

The plane flies as well hands-off as anything I have ever flown and the ailerons are about as responsive as any old GCAA/ECA.
 

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I cant remember the rigging guy at ACA, but he told me that he rigs the ailerons about +-3/8 inch down when sitting on the ground. The aerodynamic forces of flight will pull them up to trail, as you have witnessed.

Seems to me you can't fix something if it ain't broke!

But if you must, The other two turn buckles are located behind the interior panel between the front and rear windows. The "B" pillar, for lack of better words in my brain.
 
My IA said the same thing @Tangogawd said, that the sag was intentional so when the airflow pushed them up they'd be more responsive to stick inputs.
 
The aileron rigging load is supposed to be up around 40 lbs. Unfortunately, this puts a lot of binding into the system. Usually the ailerons have been rigged to keep the cables taut but loose enough to keep the system "free"...
In any case; there should NEVER be any contact (dragging) between the aileron cable and any other part of the wing structure.

Chris
 
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