Take a step back Jack!

Ok,

So it's not necessarily a trim issue. Like I said all my planes do it to some degree. I guess I need to stop being lazy and move around a bit. Like you I have trees to contend with if I go too far off center.

Ron:

Sure, stepping back a tad while if flight is a common practice with experienced stunters in some manuvers and under certain conditions like a gust of wind. Line tension is always important but it can be excessive if too much offset is used.

In flight the plane should not appear to "crab" (fly slightly sideays) or anything except parallel to the flying lines. This is achieved by proper trim adjustment which very often requires some experimentation.

SuperDave wrote:Ron:

Sure, stepping back a tad while if flight is a common practice with experienced stunters in some manuvers and under certain conditions like a gust of wind. Line tension is always important but it can be excessive if too much offset is used.

In flight the plane should not appear to "crab" (fly slightly sideays) or anything except parallel to the flying lines. This is achieved by proper trim adjustment which very often requires some experimentation.

With 1/2A I think back-stepping usually happens on most flights, especially during landing, for me anyway. It helps if a flying buddy can watch your plane through some flat laps to see if it's crabbing. He or she can see it from the front and the tail. You as the pilot can see more easily if one wing is dipping. Wingtip weight, engine offset, and leadout position are the main things I know to check. My Streak is the first plane to have no rudder offset but it stays tighter than the others, and I hear the rudder offset idea was pretty much abandoned by 1960. May be something to that. I've seen a picture of a plane with a small adjustable tab in the trail edge of the rudder

I run all my rudders straight now. I don't notice any difference in the way they fly. I am also moving around now (as seen on my Clown maiden) and it helps a ton!!!