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JetPilot
Joined: 10 Jan 2006
Posts: 1246
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 Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2008 5:17 pm Post subject: Aileron Spades, Lighten Stick Forces and Improve Roll Rates. |
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The roll forces on my MK III have always been heavy which is annoying but flyable since the Kolb is very stable... My biggest concern is that the rate of roll on my MK III Xtra has always been pretty slow, which can be dangerous in certain situations. I have always felt that if I got banked sharply close to the ground such as in wake turbulence or in a Rotor off a hanger that I would have a hard time rolling the plane back to level quickly.
I have seen where a number of people have done mods to their Kolbs to give more mechanical advantage to moving the ailerons, which helps reduce the stick forces for normal slow roll rates, but it useless for improving the rate of roll. The problem is that the aileron actuator tube that runs from the cage along the trailing edge of the wing to the aileron will twist instead of moving the aileron if a large movement is commanded in flight. If you want to test this for yourself, move the stick to each limit on the ground, and watch how much your aileron deflects... Then move the stick to each limit in flight in the air and you will see that the aileron deflects less than half of what it did on the ground, that is the tube twisting which acts like a spring in the stick... Essentially most of the stick travel is being wasted in the spring effect of the tube twisting instead of moving the aileron.
My solution was to put Aileron Spades on my MK III Xtra. Spades use aerodynamic forces to actually make the aileron deflect easier, not just a mechanical advantage, so the aileron actuator tube twisting is much less of a problem. I designed the spade brackets to fit right on to the aileron tube, and had Kolb fabricate them. Dennis at Kolb did an incredible job of making a very strong steel bracket that makes my spades more rigid than the spades found on a 200 MPH Decathlon that shares my hanger. Each spade is attached to its aileron tube with 48 rivets and leveled to within 1/3 of a degree to the bottom of each aileron. Spades are common and used on many different type of aircraft, including some airplanes that are in the same weight and speed speed class as our Kolbs ( Many Rans Models and others ). Aileron spades are a well tested, accepted, and proven way to make aileron forces lighter. As with anything in aviation, close attention must be paid to detail with this modification... A poorly mounted, or incorrectly positioned spade will very possibly result in an uncontrollable roll and a crash.
The spades have helped lighten the roll forces of the MK III considerably, I now feel very good about the rate of roll, with the added benefit of light feeling ailerons that are more balanced with the light forces of the elevator. I am also much happier with the way my Kolb feels and flies with the addition of spades, it also feels much better in turbulence since I have the ability to quickly and easily correct any banks caused by conditions. Very thorough flight testing, and many hours of normal flying have shown the addition of aileron spades on my Kolb to work very well with no undesirable results. Attached are some pictures.
Mike
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| Spade Bolted to Bracket, 6061-T6 3/16 aluminum. Must be stiff ! |
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| Mounte Rivited to inner portion of Aileron. |
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| Spade Mount Designed by Myself, and made by Kolb. |
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_________________
"NO FEAR" - If you have no fear you did not go as fast as you could have !!!
Kolb MK-III Xtra, 912-S |
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Steven Green
Joined: 05 Feb 2006
Posts: 118
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| Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2008 6:04 pm Post subject: Aileron Spades, Lighten Stick Forces and Improve Roll Rates. |
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Mike,
Just a note of caution.
I considered spades 6 years ago for my Mark III, even started fabrication.
When seeking opinions about spades on the Kolb wing I was advised to take it
easy if I did install them. Aileron deflection puts additional load on the
TE of the wing. I was told that the standard configuration can withstand
about all the force you can put on the stick, but with "power steering" it
may be possible to overstress the wing and fail the ribs near the trailing
edge.
I did not proceed any further.
Steven Green
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Steven Green |
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lucien
Joined: 03 Jun 2007
Posts: 721
Location: santa fe, NM
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| Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2008 6:41 pm Post subject: Re: Aileron Spades, Lighten Stick Forces and Improve Roll Ra |
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| Steven Green wrote: | Mike,
Just a note of caution.
I considered spades 6 years ago for my Mark III, even started fabrication.
When seeking opinions about spades on the Kolb wing I was advised to take it
easy if I did install them. Aileron deflection puts additional load on the
TE of the wing. I was told that the standard configuration can withstand
about all the force you can put on the stick, but with "power steering" it
may be possible to overstress the wing and fail the ribs near the trailing
edge.
I did not proceed any further.
Steven Green |
I thought about spades for my FS II also. It didn't have the strongest aileron response either, tho it had the lightest controls of any airplane I've ever flown.
I too was advised about the additional loads that could have been imposed on the wing and ailerons themselves if the spades had been added. So I never did actually tr it.
My titan has spades on the ailerons but the wing, aileron and attach hinges are noticeably significantly thicker, stronger and etc. The airfoil is different as well so it's just got loads of aileron and can handle spades.
The kolb wings still strike me as pretty strong, but probably still getting close to a limit with the extra deflection.
I resolved the issue by not flying my FS II in bad weather and just letting the brave guys call me names.... It was more fun to fly in smooth morning or evening conditions anyway.
In fact that's still how I fly and I still get called names  .....
LS
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LS
Titan II SS |
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JetPilot
Joined: 10 Jan 2006
Posts: 1246
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| Posted: Fri Jun 27, 2008 11:12 am Post subject: Re: Aileron Spades, Lighten Stick Forces and Improve Roll Ra |
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The strength of the ribs and the trailing edge of the wing is a valid concern and something I thought about. The most important thing here is that I don't use the spades to fly my Kolb around like I would a Decathlon. I still fly smoothly with normal roll rates, so the wing and its ribs are not being stressed any more than before I had the spades. I fly my Kolb like it was designed to fly, smoothly and well within its limits. The spades just make flying much more enjoyable as I have lighter forces on the stick when I fly in the way I always have flown my Kolb.
I also have John H's wing strengthening angle iron inside the wing in addition to the ribs to make the wing much more rigid and less prone to twisting at the trailing edge. I did flight test my Kolb and took pictures of the wing with the ailerons at full deflection at higher speeds with the spades so that I could check for twisting, or any other type of deformation. The flight pictures gave me lots of time to check everything over very carefully on my large computer monitor, and it all looked great. I would not recommend anyone try to use spades to fly a Kolb like it was not designed to fly...
It is really great to fly my Kolb with light aileron forces and also know that if I find myself getting banked excessively or close to the ground, that have very positive and quick control if I need it in an emergency.
Mike
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_________________
"NO FEAR" - If you have no fear you did not go as fast as you could have !!!
Kolb MK-III Xtra, 912-S |
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JetPilot
Joined: 10 Jan 2006
Posts: 1246
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| Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2008 12:05 pm Post subject: Re: Aileron Spades, Lighten Stick Forces and Improve Roll Ra |
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Some people asked me about how I arrived at a size, and what the size of the spades I put on my Kolb which is 9x8 inches. The spades were copied from a Decathlon, which has about the same sized wing and ailerons as my Kolb MK III. Sorry getting the size published took so long.
Attached are some more pictures, that show the size of the spades, and the 1/2 inch of the edge that is bent up at 45 degrees. The 45 degree bent edges reduce flexing under load, the spades should not flex at all in flight, I used 6061 T6 aluminum which is very stiff. I used washers to get the spades exactly level with the bottom of the aileron, within 1/3 of a degree, again this is important so that they do not act like trim tabs. The size can been seen from the ruler in the pictures.
Mike
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_________________
"NO FEAR" - If you have no fear you did not go as fast as you could have !!!
Kolb MK-III Xtra, 912-S |
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purplemoon99(at)bellsouth
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| Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2008 5:09 pm Post subject: Aileron Spades, Lighten Stick Forces and Improve Roll Rates. |
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Jetpilot, thanks for the pict..may I add you have beautiful hands..... Joe
N101HD
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