New owner, rudder force, rigging, A&P recommendation

Nige · Post by **Nige** » Thu Aug 27, 2015 7:22 pm

Hi All,
I just puchanced a '96 MXT-180. It is a good airplane, though after 1000 hours of owning tailwheels it is a bit hard to land

The trim seems out of whack to me. The slip ball is all over the place. I went out to the hangar today with a digital level to see if it was approx. in rig. The left wing averages 1.7 degrees and the right averaged 0.7 degrees. the center (measured at the top of the windshield was 0 degrees. So using these rough numbers it seems to be way out. The washout was about 0.2 degrees. I will be out there using the string method outlined in the maintenance manual to get a better indication.
Are there any recommendations for an A&P in the North California area who can rig it correctly?
I also looked at the rudder. The trim tab looks good, but when i push the rudder to the right it took just a few pounds of pressure. Pushing to the left took about 15 to 20 pound to go full deflection. Is this an indication of a broken spring on the cable and could it be the cause of the airplane swinging in and put of trim on the slip ball? Couldn't find anything in the site on the issue.

thanks for the great site and volumes of good info!
Nigel
Concord, CA (KCCR)

pilot · Post by **pilot** » Thu Aug 27, 2015 7:33 pm

Nigel, the rudder tab is not a trim tab. The tab operates off of the ailerons and is a "turn coordinator tab" so to speak. The rudder trim cable is hooked to a spring under the right kick panel, it pulls right rudder when you pull the cable. Tension can be adjusted by sliding the cable housing in the clamp under the kick panel.

Are you saying the rudder is hard to push while flying or sitting? It sounds like you are out of rig to me.

Nige · Post by **Nige** » Thu Aug 27, 2015 7:57 pm

Sorry for the short hand on the trim tab verbiage

Looking at the CD with the plans there is a spring attach to each cable near the pedals. Those are the springs I meant. Not the trim cable spring. The airplane was on the ground and the nose wheel centered.
Thanks
Nigel

chris erasmus · Post by **chris erasmus** » Fri Aug 28, 2015 2:17 am

sounds like a rigging problem. Had rigging problems on my M7 235B, once i got it sorted all the "ball all over the place" went away and I scored 20mph in the cruise.
Speak to Jeremy here on the forum, he will assist you. as for the rudder tab, I disconnected mine and it is held in place with 2 big washers, must admit I haven't noticed any major change in flying characteristics of the plane......but it make me feel better

captnkirk · Post by **captnkirk** » Fri Aug 28, 2015 11:52 am

Nige glad to have another Maule in the neighborhood Gary (9NR4) is east of you and I'm(NR42) to the west, Andy (9a9) is a bit farther west. We have a Maule mechanic but he's busy fighting fires and I don't think he is doing any wrench work at this time. If you don't find anybody Moultrie is not to far away.
Stop by some time

Duane · Post by **Duane** » Fri Aug 28, 2015 12:08 pm

Hi Nige, If you email me at the below addy, I can send you the rigging specs if you need them. Welcome aboard!

maules.com · Post by **maules.com** » Fri Aug 28, 2015 1:33 pm

Nigel, bring your new wings by and ill look it over.

captnkirk · Post by **captnkirk** » Fri Aug 28, 2015 1:45 pm

Nige dis regard I saw Concord and assumed it was in NC. but still feel free to drop by if you make it to the other Concord.

Nige · Post by **Nige** » Fri Aug 28, 2015 1:53 pm

Jeremy - that would be great - let me know a good day/time. Thanks so much!

Thanks all for the other replies too. I am going to pull the kick panels off and see if one of the rudder cable tension spring broken on one side.

Nigel in hot California

gregorydshanks · Post by **gregorydshanks** » Sat Aug 29, 2015 9:03 am

Remember that the rudder pedals on an MXT are connected to the nose wheel also so when you are sitting still on the ground the pedals will be VERY hard to push because of the resistance from the nose wheel.
Also the nose gear hanging out there makes an MXT handle a lot differently in the air from an MX. Almost like having two rudders, one in front, and one in back.

If you ignore the ball, does the plane FEEL right? It could be the turn coordinator is fubab.

Nige · Post by **Nige** » Mon Aug 31, 2015 9:53 am

It is when I move the ruder by hand standing at the back of the airplane tha tit feels different. I flew the airplane yesterday and it fly great if I apply pressure to both rudder pedals. If I don't it buck and kicks all the time - the ball swings from one side to the other and the airflow in the window vent changes (so it is not the t&s). I really need to check the rudder tension springs

pilot · Post by **pilot** » Mon Aug 31, 2015 1:10 pm

The rudder bar has springs from the cable attach points to the firewall, there are no springs between the rudder bar and cable connections, cables are connected directly to the rudder bar. I am totally unfamiliar with a nosedragger but I bet you have some nosewheel steering linkages to deal with.

Duane · Post by **Duane** » Mon Aug 31, 2015 2:36 pm

The nosedraggers have a spring loaded steering arm attached to the pilots right rudder pedal. It will give in both directions. It is attached to the steering horn at the top of the nose gear with a centering spring and shimmy dampner attached to the other side of the horn.
If you'd like, I can walk you thru setting up the linkage to factory fresh. Give me a call during normal working hours (8 - 4:30 eastern).

pilot · Post by **pilot** » Mon Aug 31, 2015 6:02 pm

Duane wrote: Give me a call during normal working hours (8 - 4:30 eastern unless it is hunting season).

How about that?

Duane · Post by **Duane** » Mon Aug 31, 2015 6:21 pm

ROFL.. yup. thats about right

New owner, rudder force, rigging, A&P recommendation

New owner, rudder force, rigging, A&P recommendation

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