Update on the "Soft around center rudder".
I was comparing rudder notes with George Asteris during a flying session today and he was even thinking about making a fatter and deeper rudder. On an impulse I spoke "Futaba" and said to George, "Why not try positive expo?" [In my native JR it would have been negative expo]
George took his mighty 14 MZ and smote that rudder with a whacking great chunk of 5% +ve expo.
One flight later the rudder was no longer an issue. It was now behaving with authority and delivering corrections around center that felt right.
It may not work for you but it is easy to set some on a switch and just try it for fun.
My expos are now at zero..
Regards,
Eric.
ORIGINAL: Eric.Henderson
I did think about it. BTW - I did not reduce it by much. The reason I left it on is for a visual check. You can very quickly check to see if your rudder trim is correct before you take-off when the counter-balance is used.
Also the rudder on an IMPACT is very strong. You can easily do KE loops etc. But it is "soft" around center so I did not want to reduce its effectivenes in the slow rolls etc. I finished up using 9% and 15% expo on the rudder.
Regards,
Eric.
ORIGINAL: hoeknu
Eric,
I saw that you reduced the size of the counterbalance on your Impact. Did you ever consider to cut it off completely?
Regards,
Knut