Hi all! I am having trouble with my 1968 Piper Arrow PA-28R-180. The handling at slow speeds is very sloppy and makes flying and especially landing less enjoyable and more difficult. A little bit of background on the aircraft: Had wing root fairings and metco-aire wingtips installed when I purchased. It has recently been rigged to neutral and fitted with a trim tab on the aileron to fly strait and level at cruise. Control cable tensions will be checked and adjusted next. Has anyone found any other fixes for this, and is this characteristic of this model? Thanks for any help or insight that can be offered.
After rigging the ailerons, rudder, nose wheel and stab/trim, my 69 flies and taxis perfect. Yours should be OK after that. If not, one turn down on a flap linkage will fix a low wing.
Just curious about the aileron trim tab mod, how did you go about that?
>It has recently been rigged to neutral and fitted with a trim tab on the aileron to fly strait and level at cruise.<
If you need a trim tab on the aileron, you aren't rigged correctly, and if you trim with the aileron tab, you won't be flying straight and level at the same time. I suggest you double check your rigging. Have you checked your rudder trim? (that's often overlooked)
JimC
Rudder is trimmed to center the ball constantly during flight. After the aircraft was rigged to neutral, it was still right wing heavy. Thus the addition of a fixed tab on the left aileron.
Cable tensions should be checked at each annual, it is surprising the feedback that I get on how "different" the airplane handles after the cables are tensioned properly. I agree with the above posters that the rigging is pretty far off if an aileron trim tab is required, in my book and most others an aileron trim tab is a no no...
Mike,
If the cables are loose the airplane will feel sloppy. The comments on the importance of proper rigging are exactly correct. A properly rigged Cherokee is a delight to fly!
A heavy wing is lifted by adjusting a flap; the Piper service manual explains this. A trim tab on the aileron is an unapproved modificaton and probably in the current FAA evironment cannot be approved. Also the FAA now allows no stop drilling in control surfaces; how that translates into the holes used to mount a trim tab I don't know, but I couldn't sign it off.
There is an STC for a cockpit adjustable aileron trim from "Aerotrim" and it works well. That might be an answer for you if the existing holes can be reused.
Good luck with this, but be prepared to deal with the holes in the aileron at some point.
Bill...
Thank you all for the feedback. I was told by A&P that flaps should be rigged to neutral and trim tab was an ok modification to allow strait and level flight after that.
No disrespect intended but it sounds like your A&P should read the Service Manual... With the response you were given I would get a second opinion from a different shop, preferably with a mechanic with Piper experience.... Your A&P is right that the flaps should be rigged neutral along with all other flight controls, after a shake down flight with a resulting heavy wing, the flaps are used to correct this symptom, not a trim tab.
Just a thought, when I removed and stripped and repainted the ailerons they had to be balanced per the service manual. If they were out of balance they had to be stripped and repainted with a lighter coat of paint. I think this was so that you would not get flutter and have it fall off..... What would a trim tab on the aileron do to the balance of the aileron and the flutter effect?
Gentlemen, I wanted to double check my facts before posting something that wasnt true but regarding the tab on ailerons, this is directly from the Piper service manual, Section 5-paragraph 13
"5-13. ADJUSTMENT OF AILERON TRIM. (PA-28-150, -160, -180, Serial nos. 28-1 to 28-1321 incl.) Lateral trim can be effected on the ground by adjusting the metal tab attached to the trailing edge of the left aileron."
Granted, the tab appears to be inappropriate for Mike's plane, but it does look like there are some Cherokee's out there that left the factory with tabs.
Alex,
The Aerotrim on my Cherokee functioned flawlessly for years until Katrina took the airplane. Before installing it I did some research and found many good comments; yours is the first bad one.
Sorry you had such poor luck, I'm considering installing one on my Comanche.
Bill...
Dave Matlock Wrote:
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>
>
> Granted, the tab appears to be inappropriate for
> Mike's plane, but it does look like there are some
> Cherokee's out there that left the factory with
> tabs.
True, but you just can't bolt one on your aircraft because it's not flying straight. I was just curious how he got approval for the installation on the Arrow.
To be honest with You Frank, it isn't a natural thing for me either. I was just following a suggestion made by my court appointed therapist. She says just doing simple things (Like addressing fellow forum members as gentlemen) will give the appearance of lessened hostility and may even ingratiate myself with some of the members!
