Thorp Air Command - T18.net

Anyone know how much space should be between my aileron and flap? When I put my aileron on it's hinges, I am getting about a full inch between the two. Is this gap too big? Should I be moving my aileron in a little closer to the flap?

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Dean Cuke
Visalia, California
N772DM
KVIS

Dean,

About 1/8-3/16" of an inch.

Is it possible you made your ailerons 48" long instead of 49.25?

If the flap skin is too short I've seen guys tack on a bit on the end of the Flaps if they are too short.

Here's a pic of such a thing.

Image Insert:



Look at that seem on the flap, that's a splice to extend it out a bit.

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Lee Walton
Houston, TX
N51863,N118LW
KEFD

Yes my ailerons are 49.25. I think that I probably have to much aileron extended outward. I wanted to make sure that my weight/balance arm had enough clearance as I still have not put the weights on the arm yet. Do you know how much clearance my balance arm should have?

I measured the aileron & flap distance again... It is 1/4" at the top and 3/4" at the bottom (not an inch). Should the top & Bottom both be about 1/8"?

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Dean Cuke
Visalia, California
N772DM
KVIS

Dean,
I don't think you took it this way but just to be sure I didn't mean any disrespect by suggesting you made your ailerons 48" long. It's just an easy mistake to make, at least I thought it was the time I did it! [;)].

Sounds like you trimmed the outboard edge of your flaps square. where you really want them to be trimmed at the 8 deg. break of the wing. Regardless, in my opinion, if the top is 1/4 and the bottom is 3/4 I'd say move on. You are certainly not the first person to do this.

Again if I'm wrong about the "square" assumption ... my apologies.

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Lee Walton
Houston, TX
N51863,N118LW
KEFD

Thanks Lee for such a quick response.

I took this project on from another person (it has been 40 years in the making, but abandoned about 10 years ago), so I did not make the flaps or the ailerons. Many of the parts are all here, but not assembled. So, I am trying to make due with what I have. For most part, everything has been done very well.

I am pretty sure that I still have enough room to move the ailerons inward about 1/2" and then I could trim the flaps to fit appropriately. However, Is it alright to have my ailerons shifted 1/2" inward and away from the outer wing? Or should the inward side of the aileron run flush with the inward side of the outer wing?

Thanks for all your input

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Dean Cuke
Visalia, California
N772DM
KVIS

Dean,
The aileron's need to overhang .625 on each side of the outboard panel. In other words it should be centered. This give the push pull the right amount of clearance at the break and the counterweight clearance at the tip. I would first get aileron centered if it is not already.

Also check and make sure the rear spar fittings were drilled at the right spot. You can do this by checking that the main and rear spars draw a straight line. It's fairly easy to cant the outer panels forward. This would exaggerate the gap as well.

In the end if the above two don't help and the flap/aileron gap bothers you, add a splice like the pic above. I still think you're OK, in my opinion a 1/4" gap is not worth loosing sleep over (better a 1/8-1/16" over than under!).

_________________
Lee Walton
Houston, TX
N51863,N118LW
KEFD

Thanks Lee for the info. I didn't realize that the aileron needs to be centered. I will take care of it.

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Dean Cuke
Visalia, California
N772DM
KVIS