Aileron Rigging way off post-paint job

[mooniac58]

I recently got my M20J back from paint and the thing wants to roll fairly hard to right.  My mechanic is shocked by this saying that they should not have touched the rigging in the paint shop.  We lowered the right aileron one full turn, but after taking it up yesterday it had little to no effect.

Does anyone know what might be causing this?  Or do I just need to adjust each aileron to counter-fight this? 

My A&P is not a Mooney specialist at all (there is no such thing here in Hawaii really) and he brought my service manuals home to research if there is some kind of "bungee" linkage between the ailerons and rudder that perhaps one side is not attached or broken.  Any merit to this?

Thanks!

 

[TurboExec]

Check the flaps....is one side sitting lower or higher than the other?

I can't imagine why they would have touched the aileron rigging to paint.  There is an interconnect between the ailerons and rudder but it is a spring under the belly and there is only one, so if it wasn't attached you just wouldn't have it interconnected anymore.

[mooniac]

on my 63', there are only two hiem bearings to adjust in the wing,  one at the aileron bellcrank on the rod coming out from the fuselage and one on the short rod connecting the bellcrank to the aileron.  Rigging is started by working down from the yokes then outboard to the bellcranks.  The links under the floor are intentionally offset to the right 1/8 inch when the yokes are neutral.  The long wing pushrod is adjusted by measuring the position of the bellcrank relative to the rear spar and the aileron pushrod is adjusted by using a travel board.  Not hard ,but you really need a travel board to set both ailerons equal.  I actually made mine by copying the profile of the wing at the aileron inboard edge onto 1/4 inch plywood. 

Any chance the heavy aileron is really heavy being filled with some residue from the stripping/painting process?

duh, actually it would be the opposite aileron filled causing the roll wouldn't it? 

[mooniac58]

Excellent info guys.  I will point all this out to my A&P!

[KSMooniac]

Any updates Craig?

[mooniac58]

No luck yet.  We actually found some slop in the left flap and thought that HAD to be it since it would sag about 1/8" low.  That did not help.  In fact, what we finally realized was that to release the yoke in flight it physically moves clockwise.  When you turn the yoke to level the wings, the yokes are centered and looking out the ailerons are level with each other (but both rocked up which I understand is normal).

So it seems almost like a phantom is pulling the yoke over.  Even on the ground the yokes fall to the right when you release them.

Does this have to be balancing?

[ajoflyer]

I just had my Mooney painted and I will ask the boys at the paint shop and at the mechanics what they looked for to keep me flying right. I know that the hardware was removed, and it was scrutinized for replacement (at paint) and when I returned to my mechanic. Hope this gets worked out. It is like flying a brand new airplane. I feel your pain.

[mooniac]

Is the ball centered on your T/C when you hold the the wings level with the yoke and your feet are flat on the floor?

[mooniac58]

Quote: mooniac

Is the ball centered on your T/C when you hold the the wings level with the yoke and your feet are flat on the floor?

 Yes, completely coordinated in flight with wings level.

[mooniac58]

Just to let all know this is now FIXED.  In the end the trailing edge of the left aileron needed to be bent downward.  This forced the control surface up and hence moved the wing down - ending the force being applied to the yokes and allowing the plane to fly straight.

Apparently someone at the paint shop handled the aileron without being very gentle!

[mooniac]

Quote: mooniac58

 Even on the ground the yokes fall to the right when you release them.

[mooniac58]

Quote: mooniac

If you corrected the problem by bending the trailing edge for aerodynamic trim, this part doesn't make sense. Hope your problem is really fixed.

 The yokes falling right was corrected before the edge bending, this was caused from the ailerons being out of balance with one another.  However, this did NOT correct the right rolling problem.

The giveaway to the aileron being bent is that the yoke was being pulled right while in flight, you had to fight to hold the ailerons straight.  The faster you went the harder you fought, to the point where in a 185KT dive you would need both hands on the yoke and locked wrists!

A call to Mooney confirmed the need to bend the control surfaces and it was done with their advice on the best way to do it, etc.

With how little we had to bend down to restore the even aerodynamics it is not suprise that some person in that paint shop could have just picked it up the wrong way or whatever - it seems a little goes a long way with bending these.