fordnmt Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 Went for a really quick flight the other day - turned out to be even shorter than I imagined. As soon as I took off there was a notable turn to the right. My engine torques to the right anyway, but this was much more severe than normal as I was having to apply lots of left brake and weightshift to maintain, and eventually turn left...and back down to land... No noticable problems / knots in the wing, trimmers were equal on each side, no tangles in speedbar or harness etc. I landed without power, but didn't really have enough time to tell if the wing was still turning right - If I had to guess then I would have said it wasn't... The only thing I can think of is that my motor was torquing much harder than usual... has anyone experienced this? and what coul;d be the cause?... Need to give the gear a thorough inspection, but this has worried me slightly..... BTW what is the consesus on the best thing to do in that situation - whilst climbing and noticing a big right turn, should I let it have happened and gone around to the right to land, should I try and maintain course into wind to gain height, or should I have done what I opted for which was to fight a left turn out of it (better for me for keeping over landing space). I am thinking what I did might have induced a stall..... Cheers...all ideas appreciated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 What machine was it? I had something similar once when I (stupidly) put my riser offsets on the wrong way round on a new Parajet and as soon as I took off I flew in tight right handed circles - quite unpleasant. If that is happening, don't fight it with left brake, just get some height then cut the engine and land. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordnmt Posted May 14, 2012 Author Share Posted May 14, 2012 its a fresh breeze Simo sportix ... forgot to mention that I noticed a small chip out of the tip of the propeller - could that have caused it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquatix Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 BTW what is the consesus on the best thing to do in that situation - whilst climbing and noticing a big right turn, should I let it have happened and gone around to the right to land, should I try and maintain course into wind to gain height, or should I have done what I opted for which was to fight a left turn out of it (better for me for keeping over landing space). I am thinking what I did might have induced a stall..... Ease off power gently, try to maintain course (counter turn) with weight shift, allow wing to turn right if safe to do so and everything else OK (or you can still climb or maintain level flight). Several serious accidents from people trying to counter torque steer with too much brake ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan_k Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 The chip in the prop is only going to cause extra vibration, if it's big enough to unbalance the prop. Never had the same problem, what wing are you flying? Cheers, Alan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norbertflyer Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 Could've been a small cravat. This has happened to me a couple of times and it needed a pump out on the brakes/stab line tweak to get the cravat out. Richard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuartasutherland Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 I had a similar problem for about 5 minutes until I realised the tip steering ball was trapped between two risers which tensioned it just enough to cause some steering. Where the karabiner clips into my wing, I have two options of where to slot through (Dudek Synth), i believe this is for offsetting torque if needed. I always check I put through the same loop on each side as my set up is well balanced anyway. Stu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s1buell_wl Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 I had a similar problem for about 5 minutes until I realised the tip steering ball was trapped between two risers which tensioned it just enough to cause some steering.Where the karabiner clips into my wing, I have two options of where to slot through (Dudek Synth), i believe this is for offsetting torque if needed. I always check I put through the same loop on each side as my set up is well balanced anyway. Stu Same here (Ball trapped in riser) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordnmt Posted May 14, 2012 Author Share Posted May 14, 2012 I had a similar problem for about 5 minutes until I realised the tip steering ball was trapped between two risers which tensioned it just enough to cause some steering.Where the karabiner clips into my wing, I have two options of where to slot through (Dudek Synth), i believe this is for offsetting torque if needed. I always check I put through the same loop on each side as my set up is well balanced anyway. Stu I suppose it could have been the ALC ball - (synth) pretty sure there was no cravaet etc... thanks for the replies - looks like I'm going to have to fly again to find out.. Ill make sure I've got plenty of right handed landing options...! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
outkast Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 I had a similar problem for about 5 minutes until I realised the tip steering ball was trapped between two risers which tensioned it just enough to cause some steering.Where the karabiner clips into my wing, I have two options of where to slot through (Dudek Synth), i believe this is for offsetting torque if needed. I always check I put through the same loop on each side as my set up is well balanced anyway. Stu I suppose it could have been the ALC ball - (synth) pretty sure there was no cravaet etc... thanks for the replies - looks like I'm going to have to fly again to find out.. Ill make sure I've got plenty of right handed landing options...! had a similar thing on my old pap, checked the wing over time and gain and just could not get my head around it, turned out my harness was not adjusted equal on both sides, the strap going from the seatboard up on the right side was tighter than the left, this gave the effect of wieght shifting to the right all the time, check your harness straps are all equal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haze Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 If it was a Synth, was your TEA cord stuck/pulled maybe? (You know, the red pull cord that you pull the knot into the notch to counter torque steer). If that was pulled (or if you set it and the knot is too far away from you) then that can cause a lot of course direction change. It might also be that your lines have shrunk or stretched on one side. When did you last have the wing serviced? If not recently, might be worth getting it checked if it's still doing the same thing. Where the motor is concerned....is it possible that where your carabiners are on your harness, there may have been a twist or something, thus effectively giving you extra weight shift on one side? On my old Parajet, the shackles below the swing arms could (if not checked properly before takeoff) loop over the swing arm on one side meaning that one side was higher than the other. I landed immediately when I noticed that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macey2kk Posted May 15, 2012 Share Posted May 15, 2012 My synth (34) is only a couple of years old And it doesn't have torque adjustment or alc balls? Is this an upgrade available or part of a new design? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 15, 2012 Share Posted May 15, 2012 As you may read from the above, you may be better off without it. I have two in the school and the balls are a pain in the balls and the TEA, I think we all know someone who has taken off with it locked into place during launch?? The Synth is an awesome wing, but the balls..... OK here is a design challenge, I am sure you will come up with something better (Spikes) but you will see my point. Design an object that will get caught up easily into Paragliding lines. My answer, Option A) a spiky ball on the end of some chord. Option b) a smooth ball on the end of some chord. SW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan_k Posted May 15, 2012 Share Posted May 15, 2012 I've added ALC to my ReAction, it was never part of the original wing design. It is easy to do, would you like me to produce a set of photos to show how it's done? It really is a great addition, gives brilliant sharp turning on full reflex setting with low effort, Cheers, Alan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dede2008 Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 As mentioned already, it could have been a one off problem with cravats, tip steering balls cought up, or something else. If the problem ever repeats, get some height without flighting with breaks and do some trial and error: release power, if the problem persists you will know it is not the motor, could be the wing or the harness. Try to check both one at a time and you should get to the problem easily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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