Wings won't stay level..

B

bahama flier

Pre-takeoff checklist
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bahama flier
I have a Cherokee six, heavy good ride, but my wings dip left and right, real pain when trimmed out and not on autopilot. With the autopilot on it fights the wings all the time trying to keep the aircraft level.

Its been this way for a while,. I mostly let the autopilot fight with it, but my AP went out and I had to deal with it, and its a problem trying to stay on course.

Any suggestions?
 
Could you describe the problem further? Is the plane rocking right then left and back, or leaning to one side or the other?
 
Are you following the POH on fuel management? Which tanks to burn first, etc? My first guess is that fuel in the tips creates an off-center moment.

Bob
 
Keep the fuel tanks as balanced as possible, like Bobmgr mentioned. Been years since I've flown a Cherokee 6 or a Lance, but the PA28-140 in the flight school we generally switch tanks every 30 minutes.

Here's what is recommended from the POH:

ln order to keep the airplane in best lateral trim during cruise flight, the fuel should beNused alternately from each main tank, and when these are nearly exhausted from each tip tank.

It is recommendedthat one main tank be used for one hour after takeoff, the other main tank used until nearly exhausted,then return to the first main tank. When nearly exhausted, return to one t i p t a n k and alternate at one half-hour intervals to maintain lateral t r i m .

Don't know why it copied and pasted lie that. Cleaned it up best I could.
 
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Could it be a rigging issue? One of our 152’s has had a left banking tendency for as long as I can remember. You have to apply constant pressure to the yoke in order to keep it wings level. Kind of annoying but I’m used to it by now. Owners don’t seem too concerned about it either.
 
Ryanb said:
Could it be a rigging issue?
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That would be my first guess, based on the description.

As a side note, the Cherokee Six needs to follow the fuel use procedure that mscard88 posted. Also note that there is a proper fueling procedure for the airplane that is outlined in the flight manual.
 
Ryanb said:
Could it be a rigging issue? One of our 152’s has had a left banking tendency for as long as I can remember. You have to apply constant pressure to the yoke in order to keep it wings level. Kind of annoying but I’m used to it by now. Owners don’t seem too concerned about it either.
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Just tape a pound or three of bacon to the right wing. Works great, plus if you crash in a desolate area, you have something to eat.

image.jpeg
 
My POH (Cherokee-235) also says "one main tank be used for one hour after takeoff, the other main tank used until nearly exhausted, then return to the first main tank" etc, but I find that in practice that's not often enough to keep it feeling in balance, and switching every 30 minutes is noticeably better. It is right that running the mains first and then the tips later is better though.
 
Have your mechanic check tension on the aileron control cables or look for a frozen pulley. Sounds like something is dragging and preventing the ailerons from neutralizing.
 
Silvaire said:
Have your mechanic check tension on the aileron control cables or look for a frozen pulley. Sounds like something is dragging and preventing the ailerons from neutralizing.
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Yeah, if it's a continuous problem, rather than just a "heavy wing", this would be the thing to check.
 
If it was out of rig it would do the same thing like have a heavy left wing. It wouldn't dip left then right.... WTHELL?
You talking about flying in turbulant air or smooth? My planes move around also when its rough outside :confused:
 
mscard88 said:
Keep the fuel tanks as balanced as possible, like Bobmgr mentioned. Been years since I've flown a Cherokee 6 or a Lance, but the PA28-140 in the flight school we generally switch tanks every 30 minutes.

Here's what is recommended from the POH:

ln order to keep the airplane in best lateral trim during cruise flight, the fuel should beNused alternately from each main tank, and when these are nearly exhausted from each tip tank.

It is recommendedthat one main tank be used for one hour after takeoff, the other main tank used until nearly exhausted,then return to the first main tank. When nearly exhausted, return to one t i p t a n k and alternate at one half-hour intervals to maintain lateral t r i m .

Don't know why it copied and pasted lie that. Cleaned it up best I could.
Click to expand...
I have Piper Lance which would have similar fuel system as cherokee six . These planes have interconnected two tanks on each side so you can not control which tanks gets used first. The fuel selector is either right or left
 
blueskyMD said:
I have Piper Lance which would have similar fuel system as cherokee six . These planes have interconnected two tanks on each side so you can not control which tanks gets used first. The fuel selector is either right or left
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I quoted the info from the POH. Should be correct, no?
 
Not seen any cherokee with tip tanks. I don't thinks that there is even an STC out there. While using say left tank fuel drains from outboard tank first by design and then from inboard tank. In other words two tanks act like one.
 
blueskyMD said:
Not seen any cherokee with tip tanks. I don't thinks that there is even an STC out there. While using say left tank fuel drains from outboard tank first by design and then from inboard tank. In other words two tanks act like one.
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I've seen them. They are not visible tip tanks like you see on Bonanzas or anything, just integrated into the wingtip. The only giveaway is a fuel cap on top of the wingtip.
 
I think pre 1970s Cherokee 6 260 has that kind of fuel tank configuration with fuel cap towards the tip of the wing but still its not a tip tank
 
I used to rent a Skyhawk XP... thing used to dance like a dutch roll whenever I set up with full flaps on final... PITA! never did figure out WTF was going on...
 
It dips BOTH ways? How far apart?

If it only went one way, you could fix it with a Crown Royal autopilot.

Y'know... Drink a bottle of Crown, take the purple cloth bag and hang it from the yoke on the up-wing side, and fill it with marbles until it flies straight. :D
 
blueskyMD said:
I have Piper Lance which would have similar fuel system as cherokee six . These planes have interconnected two tanks on each side so you can not control which tanks gets used first. The fuel selector is either right or left
Click to expand...

The lance fuel system is nothing like a Cherokee six.

Cherokee Sixes do indeed have 4 separate tanks, two of them being tip tanks which hold 17 gallons each. They are to be used last and filled first.
 
FlySince9 said:
I used to rent a Skyhawk XP... thing used to dance like a dutch roll whenever I set up with full flaps on final... PITA! never did figure out WTF was going on...
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Flaps out of rig, with one coming down more than the other.
 
Dan Thomas said:
Flaps out of rig, with one coming down more than the other.
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I've also flown an R182 that had the flaps equal when they were up or down (and thus this didn't get caught on preflight), but they were mis-rigged in such a way that one would start coming down sooner than the other. It wasn't until we observed them in transit on the ground that we found it.
 
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