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Preface: I don't have much experience with planes other than my own.
When I first got it, the rudder was "stiff"--during preflight, when I checked it by hand for play, it had nearly none. I could maybe wiggle it about 1/8" or so with "easy" pressure, and I didn't hear any parts moving in the empennage. It felt "tight".
A couple of months ago, at annual, my mechanic made some adjustments in the nose gear steering rods as part of the solution to some taxi steering issues I had observed. I think the cable rigging to the rudder was also checked/adjusted (to keep nose gear and rudder centered together).
I noticed after annual that the rudder felt "looser" in my hand than it used to. I could now easily wiggle the rudder by hand about 1/2 - 3/4" or so. Also, I could hear things moving inside the empennage (cables "slapping", I guessed).
I reported this to my mechanic and asked him to check and make sure the rigging was correct. He says he used a tensionometer to ensure all cable tensions were in spec.
During my pre-flight today, when I checked the rudder, it was even looser than it was the last time I flew. Now I can easily wiggle it 1 - 1.5", and the cable "slapping" noises are even more apparent. I drug my mechanic out to my plane, showed him what I was seeing, and asked, "Is this really normal?"
He assures me that it is. Says he's confident the cables are rigged and tensioned properly. Says if I were to check a variety of planes, I'd find many with similarly "loose" rudders.
So: How "loose" is your rudder?
(FWIW, I can not feel any difference in flight. Pedal force is the same as it's always been, and I feel no "slop" in pedal travel or vibration being fed back through the pedals to my feet.)
When I first got it, the rudder was "stiff"--during preflight, when I checked it by hand for play, it had nearly none. I could maybe wiggle it about 1/8" or so with "easy" pressure, and I didn't hear any parts moving in the empennage. It felt "tight".
A couple of months ago, at annual, my mechanic made some adjustments in the nose gear steering rods as part of the solution to some taxi steering issues I had observed. I think the cable rigging to the rudder was also checked/adjusted (to keep nose gear and rudder centered together).
I noticed after annual that the rudder felt "looser" in my hand than it used to. I could now easily wiggle the rudder by hand about 1/2 - 3/4" or so. Also, I could hear things moving inside the empennage (cables "slapping", I guessed).
I reported this to my mechanic and asked him to check and make sure the rigging was correct. He says he used a tensionometer to ensure all cable tensions were in spec.
During my pre-flight today, when I checked the rudder, it was even looser than it was the last time I flew. Now I can easily wiggle it 1 - 1.5", and the cable "slapping" noises are even more apparent. I drug my mechanic out to my plane, showed him what I was seeing, and asked, "Is this really normal?"
He assures me that it is. Says he's confident the cables are rigged and tensioned properly. Says if I were to check a variety of planes, I'd find many with similarly "loose" rudders.
So: How "loose" is your rudder?
(FWIW, I can not feel any difference in flight. Pedal force is the same as it's always been, and I feel no "slop" in pedal travel or vibration being fed back through the pedals to my feet.)
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