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EDO 2000 Install

CranelakeMN

Registered User
Crane Lake, Minnesota
Asking for a friend.

PA18-150... flew perfectly straight on wheels.

Installed EDO 2000 floats.

Airplane flies with wings perfectly level in cruise flight BUT.... flies a ball to ball and a half out (need to hold right rudder)… basically yaws to the left quite a bit with the wings perfectly level.

We have checked the inclinometer. Fine.
We have checked the water rudder rigging. Putting the rudders up or down in flight does not seem to make a difference.

Took the following measurements:

Right Wing Tiedown Ring to Front Left Float Cleat: 16'11"
Right Wing Tiedown Ring to Rear Left Float Cleat: 17'7"
Left Wing Tiedown Ring to Front Right Float Cleat: 16'10 7/8"
Left Wing Tiedown Ring to Rear Right Float Cleat: 17' 7 3/4"

Looking for suggestions.
 
This type of thing can drive one nuts.
Try offsetting the water rudders to the left. They act as a trim tab for the rudder.
Another thing to try is to move the entire float installation to the right with equal turns of the cross wires front and back. The floats will still be straight, just nearer the right wing. Moves the CG to the right.
 
How I trim them.. needs right rudder, swing the water rudders to the left to work as a trim tab. Works every time!
 
I had to fly with my rudders down all the time because I could never get them to stop pulling to one side.

And one time we were pressed for time so quit trying to get the measurements exact, and called it good for the time being about 1" out of square in the tail. Plan was to fly it for the two days I needed it, then readjust when I got it back home.

The darn thing flew 5 miles an hour faster!! I was cruising a 150 cub at 95 mph on floats!!! So square is not always what it is cracked up to be.
 
The darn thing flew 5 miles an hour faster!! I was cruising a 150 cub at 95 mph on floats!!! So square is not always what it is cracked up to be.
You must have been using a very flat prop. 2 or 3 more inches of pitch will do wonders without much if any take off penalty. A Cub on 2000s should exceed 100 mph even with an 82" diameter prop.
 
For personal use I like to level the wings to floats with the front float cross wires. That assumes the wing dihedral and washout is correct for each side and tie down ring not bent. Then I center the tail at the rudder post to the rear of the floats (equal distance to a rivet or common part on each float) with the rear cross wires. That hopefully levels the plane laterally and longitudinally on the floats. Also make sure the float rigging and barrels aren't bent or twisted.

Fly. If rudder is needed note the vertical stabilizer offset and correct by carefully adjusting some with long boards clamped to both sides. Front of stabilizer offset more to the left if right rudder needed, etc. The problem is the desired effect of the vertical stab offset to correct for P-factor and so on can be speed dependent. Sight forward along the top it's typically slightly left of fuselage centerline. So a compromise of offset should be considered.

If the fuselage is torqued twisted or bent and the wings and tail are as well then all this gets troublesome. If so then recheck and confirm the plane's overall rigging before installing floats.

Gary
 
"Also make sure the float rigging and barrels aren't bent or twisted" I mentioned this above for a good reason. Once assembled they rarely get rechecked for square and parts fit. Just a quick overlook with a tape measure on a flat surface can help eliminate any concerns.

Fuselage fittings (like what they're attached to) aren't always perfect either. The floats will conform to the fuselage with enough bending and twisting of the rigging but be suspicious if attachment takes lots of force or excessive use of "bullet punches" to get the hardware lined through and installed.

There's the old joke about rough water soon taking care of any mismatch. Might be true for one plane but if the floats are then swapped to another look them over.

Gary
 
Just wondering what was making it fly off center and yaw left. Most folks put up with it and it's good you chose not to. Something made the change from wheels to floats.

Gary

Hi Gary:
Now this makes sense. Not sure what made the change. Didn't have to move the water rudders much but they definitely accomplished what needed to be corrected. Apparently a lot of the newer cubs have a trim tab on the rudder?
 
Rudder tab...I got one for floats. Doesn't take much bend. I checked everything I mentioned above on my EDO 1320's and Taylorcraft and it's as square as I can make it. The vertical stabilizer is offset correct and it's less than a full ball out to right on floats. I think in my case the plane's just slower on floats and the built in airframe trim has less effect.

Good you got it ok now.

Gary
 
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