Pulling to the left

[LimaMike08]

The last couple of times I have had the trike out it has been strongly pulling to the left. The wing has been packed up more often than not in the last year and therefore the battens have been in a bag as well. It is not very relaxing constantly fighting to keep straight and level.

 

I have an idea what it might be but thought I would ask about as I might be missing the obvious. Any thoughts/advise?

 

 

[DarkSarcasm]

It's just a pull to the left....

 

and then a step to the riiiiiiiight

 

 

[ahlocks]

 

P.S. Put your hands on your hips....

 

 

[allowera]

How old is your wing?

 

I am assuming that you haven't noticed anything different during rigging, battens feel 'right' on insertion, tension feels even, symetry looks even and in line with the thrust line and the problem has appeared gradually.

 

I have heard of older fabric becoming more 'compliant' and developing bias.

 

Perhaps checking batten profiles might help diagnose this.(Don't assume just because the batten doesn't fit the profile it's wrong; it may have been adjusted that way).

 

I hope that someone with more experience will add to this.

 

Happy days,

 

Paul.

 

 

[DarkSarcasm]

P.S. Put your hands on your hips....

...bring your knees in tiiiight...

 

 

[Guest davidh10]

As Allowera has suggested, check the battens against the template. If those are ok, check the tip tensions. There are instructions in the wing manual. Also check that the tip tensioners are not bent or deformed.

 

Another more obvious cause may be if somehow the trim wires are shorter on one side as if a wire is kinked or caught around something. These act by lifting the trailing edge of the wing to provide a positive elevator effect, thus giving a greater angle of attack. Obviously it does not take much difference between the two sides to create a turning moment.

 

Be very careful with any changes as it is possible to create a dangerously uncontrollable situation. If the cause isn't obvious, you should have someone who has been trained in assembly / adjustment to check it.

 

My comments relate to an XT-912 with a Streak-3 wing, so may not directly apply to a Quantum.

 

 

[Tracktop]

Hi

 

Did you put the batterns in on their correct side?

 

Port / starboard sets. If they are swapped around the tensioms might be wrong?

 

An easy thing to do.

 

Ray

 

 

[cscotthendry]

I'll second David's comment about the trim lines. Often when I'm rigging my wing after travelling, one of the shackles on the end of the cables gets itself hung up a little sideways. The area of the strongest lift from the wing is in the area that these lines span. and differences here would have a significant effect. If there's nothing else obvious, check your batten profiles. If you've had the wing packed and travelled with it with the battens packed near the wing tips as Airborne reccommend, it would be fairly easy for a batten to cop a hit and be bent.

 

Another thing to check is that there isn't a bend in the leading edge tube or that the cross tube hasn't shifted or come loose.

 

If you have a strong pull to the left, there will be something fairly obvious wrong. A really good inspection of the wing should find the problem.

 

 

[eastmeg2]

...bring your knees in tiiiight...

Darky . . . Always the LADY.

 

 

[DarkSarcasm]

Darky . . . Always the LADY.

In my defence, I'm only quoting lyrics...

 

 

[LimaMike08]

Thanks all for the advise (and the serenade).