airhead

Finishing up on an LT-40, I have noticed that the left right side of the stab dips lower than the left (looking from the back of the plane with the wing on). It isn't an enormous visual difference, however, I would prefer to to take any chances and end up crashing this. Soooo ... my question(s) for today is:

Is this something that -

a) needs to be corrected (structurally) before flying?
-or-
b) can be compensated for when balancing the plane (a hypothesis I dreamt up while daydreaming at work)?
-or-
c) can be trimmed out during flight by the instructor?

Any and all info/suggestions/ideas/etc will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Dan

daveopam

My Feedback: (9)

It will effect the way it flyes but not a lot on a trainer. Think about changing the wing saddle on th
main wing to match the stab. It may look funny on the ground but once airborn it will fly great.
Before you do anything. Put the fuse on a table and give us the distance from each tip the table.
This will let us know how far off it is. later daveo

FHHuber

Its actually amazing how crooked a plane can be and still fly...

With trainers, you can trim for level flight with warped wings, bowed fuselage and all kinds of other problems, and you can still learn to fly with the thing.

A small deviation like what you describe may be noteiceable in a precision aerobatic model, but you'll not be able to notice the difference on the LT-40. Just be certain the tailplanes are FIRMLY glued on. You should be able to lift the aircraft by the tailplanes (let it rotate to point nose down as you lift...) If they don't stay on, they would have fallen off in flight anyway.

airhead

Hello ...

Thanks for your replies! In answer to Daveo's question, I read about 3-1/2" (right-side) and about 3-3/4" (left-side); that gives me roughly 1/4" difference ... yikes! However, I came across 2 things:

1) the right side of the stab looks a bit warped. I am going to investigate further and hopefully fix that.
-and-
2) it is extremely hard to find a level working area in the condo I live in (old mansion).

Thanks again folks!

-Dan

daveopam

My Feedback: (9)

Dan, for a trainer a 1/4" is not much. The difference in flight wil be nill. Unless it bothers you I would fly the stink out of it. later daveo

airhead

Thanks!

I appreciate your advice!

ballgunner

My Feedback: (1)

On my LT40 the stabilizer was straight but the elevator was warped as was one aileron. As long as the control surfaces are not warped a little slant on the stabilizers shouldn't hurt the ship at all. Nice airplane but the next one will be a taildragger.