My feeling about balancing the elevator is, think about the loss of each of the control surfaces and what you could do to maintain control. AOPA Flight Training magazine had a great article on this very subject, in an article concerning emergency responses. If you lose the ailerons, you can still mix the elevator and rudder, slow down a bit, and although the turns are alittle bit un-coordinated, you will turn. If you lose the rudder, mixing elevator and ailerons, same result; not pretty but you can safely land. IF you lose the elevator, if you are very lucky you might be able to control pitch with power, but landing is going to be nearly impossible. A controlled crash is more likely. Take the time necessary to properly balance the elevator, install good Dr. Dean hinges, preflight before and sometimes even after flights, and keep your controls free of potential hazards. I had the back panel in a Cessna 152 fall down during a flight, and allow the towbar to slide into the tail boom during stall practice. Needless to say it was pretty hairy crawling back the length of that small plane after getting turned around in the seat, while my instructor at the time dealt with the weight shift of 190 pounds to the rear! In recent times we just had a KR2 at the Gathering that lost his baggage compartment during a climbout, believe it was Marty Roberts, and jammed his elevator control so that he had VERY little deflection. Thoughts....
Colin & Bev Rainey KR2(td) crain...@cfl.rr.com Sanford, Florida FLY SAFE!!!!
