Flew an instrument lesson with Bob Sob in the morning. Had celebratory lunch with the airport gang at noontime, courtesy of Bill and The 195 Factory.
In the afternoon I went to ACE and purchased a variety of weather stripping products. Came back to the hangar and installed a thick foam strip around the bottom of the canopy sides. Fits nicely and makes a huge difference.
Researched the heavy wing issue. Went back and checked the plans. They clearly said to squeeze the trailing edge of the skins so the skin would lay flat when riveted to the ribs. I guess at that point in my building career I was too timid about this bending. Both flaperons have bulging skins. According to what I read this can cause a heavy wing and a "dead zone" in the middle of flaperon travel, which is what I noted yesterday. Hand squeezed the trailing edges of the flaperons on both sides as much as possible, but they still bulge some.
Flew a one hour test flight and completed all the tasks on Card 1. Right wing still heavy at cruise. Slight problem in yaw - about 1/4 ball to the right. Returned and squeezed the left wing flaperons some more for about half the span. Flew a second short flight - very little change.
Spoke with Ken at Van's at some length about these trim problems and corrective procedures. Today I will fabricate a temporary wedge for the rudder and test fly until ball is centered. Then continue squeezing the left flaperon, and test fly some more. My object is to get a fairly stable airplane at cruise speed. Not worried about changes with flaps extended or slow speed – those operations are only done for short periods during landing.
