Aileron Spades

M

mtbowhunter

New member
I have a 76' 7GCBC that requires a fair amount of force to work the aileron control at times. I have heard mention of aileron spades in reference to alleviating this problem, but I am not sure I know what they are nor what they do.

Will they help lighten the control input for the ailerons and where would I purchase them if they do? Thanks.

Joe.
 
Joe,
Spades are flat plates mounted below and parallel to the ailerons which give an aerodynamic assist to moving the ailerons. They really do reduce the stick force needed to move the ailerons. I have them on my 74 7ECA.
There are 2 sources for the spades, ACA and Olin Pash. The ones on my 7ECA are the Pash and I hear they are preferred over the ACA ones because of ease of installation. Pash advertises in the Bellanca-Champion news letter.

Hope this helps,

Ron
 
Thanks Ron.

I looked up Olin Pash on the internet and called him and discussed his spades. He's a pretty nice fella. The spades are spendy though, $560, including shipping. I ordered a set and will have them installed during my annual coming up in May. I'll post a note on this thread of whether it makes a noticeable difference. Thanks for the info.

Joe.
 
Hi. I noticed on Olin´s webpage that his spades are mounted on the inner side of the aileron(closer to the wing roots), as the ACA spades are on the other side, does this vary between models or is this just another design?

I know for a fact that these spades make a huge difference, especially during aerobatics but I still haven´t installed them on my 7KCAB, so I am looking for the best desing before purchasing.


Best regards, Fridrik from Iceland.
 
My understanding is that the different positions is a design difference and is uniform across all models. From what comments I have read from users of the different manufacturers there is no difference in results between the two, just that the Pash model is easier to install unless the aircraft is uncovered.
 
The spades on the outside has 2 advantages.
1) better flow without the strut interferance
2) The counter moment is applied on the opposite end of the aileron as the push rod. This reduces aileron twist.
Downside: Easier to hit your head. :)

Will you notice these items? Well, only if you fly and measure both setups on the SAME airplane. So, its really academic from a practical stand point.
 
Seeing that my wings and ailerons are freshly painted I´m pretty sure that Olin´s will be the one to choose due to the easier installation.

Thanks for the quick responses.


Regards, Fridrik from Iceland.
 
Just as a side note, you may want to compare your aileron control pressure to another Citabria. I went flying with a buddy of mine in his '99 Citab 7GCBC with spades and his controls were heavier than my '69 with no spades! Afterwards we tried moving his ailerons and mine on the ground and his cables were tensioned far tighter than mine. I know there's a gage to check that so you might want to start there before you go spending a bunch of money.
 
My ailerons move freely on the ground, but are a brute to move in the air, so I don't think it would be the cable tension. However, I will have my A&P look at the tension at the annual next month when he's installing the aileron spades (already bought them). Thanks for the input.

Joe.
 
Spades substantially increase the flight loads on the rear spar of any aircraft they are installed on. I wonder if anyone ever investigated or compared spar/rib damage in spade equipped aircraft to non equipped aircraft.

The heavy feel in the ailerons are the flight loads, the spades simply overide the natural heavy feel and disguise the fact that you are loading the wing very heavily.

Many aircraft are designed to exhibit increased heaviness in flight controls as speed is increased so the piot will feel it and be less likely to over stress the aircraft.

Steve
 
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