2007 Pitch Spring Removed

[FlyingMonkey]

I finally went ahead and deleted the "extra" spring that pre-loaded the joystick pitch axis in my 2007 CTSW yesterday.  I don't think I'll be replacing it.  I test flew it yesterday including cruise flight up to 125kt (~5500rpm), a dive to Vne, and two landings, one on grass and one on pavement, both at 30° flaps.  Impressions:

*  I'm no longer confused by Charlie Tango and other describing how they set trim for landing, etc.  My airplane now flies similarly, and needs minimal/no trim from downwind to landing.  Previously I needed to use full aft trim from abeam the numbers to touchdown.  It was fine that way, and the 2007 I trained in was the same.  But not having to touch the trim is, as Forrest Gump says, "one less thing"...

*  I did need to add some some nose down trim on climb out as I accelerated with flaps in.  On my next flight I will start the roll with the trim a little more forward and see if that reduces that somewhat.

*  I found that in cruise at 100+ knots I have my trim at about 80-90% forward, and I run out of forward trim around 125kias.  I rarely if ever cruise that fast or faster, so I don't know if I will bother adjusting the trim system.  I had previously adjusted it to give me more aft trim, so I might need to turn those rod ends back a turn to give me more nose down range.  I'm in "wait and see" mode on that.    

*  I worried that since I was used to a much heavier stick feel, that I'd over-control the airplane in pitch .  Unfounded.  Apparently my brain works more on the amount of stick travel than on stick force; I found myself just moving the stick the same as always, it just took less effort.  I used to fly with my first two fingers and thumb wrapped around the stick to get the necessary force for control.  Now I can fly with just the tips of those three digits.  That's better and less fatiguing.

*  The stick forces feel more linear, and perhaps a bit more precise.  I attribute this to the nature of a coil spring; the forces are not linear, but load up in an increasing curve as the spring tension increases.  This leads to an ever-increasing ramp up of effort as the stick is moved farther aft.  

*  Landings felt the same, just with less stick effort.  The stick does come back easier close to the ground.  On my pavement landing I seemed to get the stick back more and sooner, which led to a greaser landing, but the nose was higher than I'm used to.  I wondered if I might hear a scraping noise from the tail, but it never happened.  I guess that is just something I'll have to be aware of, and not over-do the pitch change on touchdown.

Overall, I have not seen any disadvantages to this change, and it definitely makes the controls feel a bit more sporty.  I'd recommend this for other 2007 CTSW owners with the extra spring installed.  Of course, the applies only to E-LSA owners or S-LSA owners with an anti-authoritarian streak.    

[Tom Baker]

4 hours ago, FlyingMonkey said:

 

*  I'm no longer confused by Charlie Tango and other describing how they set trim for landing, etc.  My airplane now flies similarly, and needs minimal/no trim from downwind to landing.  Previously I needed to use full aft trim from abeam the numbers to touchdown.  It was fine that way, and the 2007 I trained in was the same.  But not having to touch the trim is, as Forrest Gump says, "one less thing"...

 

Pretty much what I tried to tell you.

[FlyingMonkey]

6 minutes ago, Tom Baker said:

Pretty much what I tried to tell you.

Truth!