Tri-pacer Rudder/Aileron Interconnect

[rocket]

CI,
My interconnect was part of an extended baggage field approval from before I was born.

I haven't been on wheels in a couple years but there is a big airglass fork and an airglass 2000 nose ski on there right now. I just go straight to floats normally but on wheels there is an 8.00x6 on the nose and she will go over on you if you don't remember to push the opposite rudder pedal back.

I once had a CFI loose control about twenty feet from the tie down, she oscillated from side to side, the wing tips getting closer and closer to the ground, as I am screaming for him to take his feet off the rudder pedals. Twenty feet out of the tie down! I don't think this is a function of the interconnect per-say but of not having a rudder pedal centering or return spring system most spam canners are familiar with. If I recall this was shortly before I realized that the air pressure in the POH says 17 psi for the nose and 22 for the mains. With 32 psi in all three she is really really squirrerly on the ground! The guy who fairred her to my village for me said he almost lost it landing on a large pavement runway. I drove it around and around the ramp a couple of days getting used to her before taking off.

She takes some getting used to. I had another tripacer pilot fly here a couple years ago and he mentioned it was...different. I don't recall his exact words.


Rocket

[Troy Hamon]

I don't remember what I said either. But it was probably the only time I've had to be conscious to watch for a need for left rudder in level flight. But it wasn't pushing hard over, just would start pressing against my foot. I was chasing the coordination ball all over the place for a little while.

Any issues on the ground should not be related to the interconnect or not. That's really a function of the direct pushrod steering. I know in my miniscule time in a C172 I've been a ground handling idiot. You tell the airplane to turn and it thinks about it, looks around, then slowly takes a turn, but when you want it to stop turning it takes some coaxing for that too. I'm sure it gets better and makes more sense if you fly one a bunch.

I had a CFI land a crosswind in a PA-22 to show me a hard side slip, and he was unprepared for the direct rudder connection. When the nose wheel touched down, it almost got expensive.

[Pacer 24C]

Please don't take this as offensive - but the reality is the that the TriPacer was a quick to market factory adaptation of a nice light on the controls spirited taildragger that was not for the average. The TriPacer was conversion and not an engineered tricycle gear airplane. They made a completely different airplane for a completely different market out of the TriPacer (like the Ercoupe)

[Chris Iriarte]

Yeah, well, I still like it!
;-)

[rocket 204]

tri pacer hm lets see , easy to fly, comfortable, reasonable cruise can haule a load,decent short field operation reasonable price, i would call it the best bang for your buck and i like the look of them

[PeterL]

I never had a problem with a slip or taxiing and had to use rudder to stay coordinated in turns. .

But Rickcargo, how was it when you pulled the TP out of the hangar????

[Dennis Savarese]

I removed the aileron-rudder interconnect this week. I found the required Colt steering horn and return springs at Preferred Airparts in Ohio. Yes, they actually had new stock of both the steering horn and the springs. Couldn't believe it when I checked their inventory. Anyway, after just a bit of tweaking of the rigging, (we loosened the interconnect, test flew the airplane, adjusted the rigging and test flew the airplane again a few times), and following the installation in accordance with the TCDS 1A6, Item 407 and Piper drawing 14926, I am totally satisfied. Now the airplane flies like a real airplane. Couldn't be happier. BTW, I also found an on-line copy of the original flight manual and the Supplement 3 which is required to be in the airplane when the "control modification kit" is installed.

[Chris Iriarte]

Dennis,

I'm about to do this myself. Looks like you need to get the horn and springs ... are the rest of the parts standard adel clamps and hardware?

Chris

[Dennis Savarese]

I used standard Adel clamps. I found the clamps by Googling the part number. Can't remember who had them. They must have been made out of gold because the price was $16 each. They said they never sold any before. The sales rep said the price of the clamps was $13.xx in 1989 and they haven't sold any since. I refused to pay $32 for the clamps when I knew I could use Adel clamps. I fabricated an L shaped "tab" to mount under the screw on the clamp to attach the spring to.

As I recall, Preferred Airparts had multiple 14384-4 springs in stock. But the horn assembly, p/n 14927, they only showed one in stock. So that may be a problem.

[pmanton]

My Tri-Pacer has the interconnect removed with no centering springs via a field approval. I have no issues whatsoever with the way it flies. Ground handling is crisp with 30# in the mains and 25# in the nose wheel.

Paul
Salome, AZ