Unlevel Flight

[Scott Grand]

I have a 1965 PA-24-260. The plane has to be kept in a slight left bank in order to fly striaght ahead. If the wings are leveled, it will make a slow right turn. After two mechanics have evaluated, one suggested adjusting the left flap outward - this did not alleviate the situation. Any ideas on how to correct this?

[Rich Roberson]

my 250 had a similar problem...my mechanic kept dropping an aileron. Didnt get it flying straight until Bill Turley trued it per Piper instructions, fist the flaps, then the ailerons adjustetd to trued flaps. Flies strainght (and faster) now.

[Zach Grant L1011jock]

The airplane may be bent, it may have an unlevel Turn Coordinator, and or it could be mis rigged. Check to make sure you are actually flying unlevel first by leveling the aircraft as shown in the service manual. After that, if no problem is found, rig the aircraft as per the service manual...follow ALL the instructions from step one through the end, NO SHORT CUTS. If there is still no change, then you have some other issue with the airframe, and you should investigate to see if there is a bent engine mount, bent wing, bent vertical, poorly repaired fuselage after gear up, etc.

-Zach