Narrative:

I had maintenance check a slight scratching feel in the last two inches of full right rudder throw on his aircraft. No binding was noted and full throw was available. Maintenance felt it as well and checked the system extensively but found nothing abnormal. In conversations with maintenance control; a note that had been in the 737 flight manual was mentioned. The note had stated that with the new rudder PCU's a slight bump at full rudder throw might be felt. Everyone agreed that the system appeared to operate normally; and that the slight scratchy feel might be caused by some dirt on the centering mechanism or something similar; but that it did not appear to be a problem with any pulley; cable; cable run etc; and that there was no binding with normal full rudder operation. The aircraft was released for service. We flew this aircraft for three legs following the inspection; two on one day and one on next. On subsequent rudder control checks the scratching was not felt. The checks were performed slightly more rapidly than on the initial check; but still done at a slow; deliberate pace. On the second and third legs I did not feel the scratchy feel at full throw right. Late in november I felt the same thing but on a different aircraft; a scratchy feel at full throw right rudder. It was more pronounced than the previous aircraft's had been; and had an accompanying faint swishing sound when the scratching was felt. Again; it occurred within the last 2 inches of right rudder throw. The aircraft was taken out of service and ferried for troubleshooting. In a conversation with maintenance they indicated they thought the rudder centering bearing may be the cause.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737 Captain reports a slight scratching feel in the last two inches of full right rudder throw during a flight control check. Maintenance checked the system extensively but found nothing abnormal. The aircraft was flown on the subsequent three legs without problem although the strange feeling remained present during flight control checks.

Narrative: I had Maintenance check a slight scratching feel in the last two inches of full right rudder throw on his aircraft. No binding was noted and full throw was available. Maintenance felt it as well and checked the system extensively but found nothing abnormal. In conversations with Maintenance Control; a note that had been in the 737 Flight Manual was mentioned. The note had stated that with the new rudder PCU's a slight bump at full rudder throw might be felt. Everyone agreed that the system appeared to operate normally; and that the slight scratchy feel might be caused by some dirt on the centering mechanism or something similar; but that it did not appear to be a problem with any pulley; cable; cable run etc; and that there was no binding with normal full rudder operation. The aircraft was released for service. We flew this aircraft for three legs following the inspection; two on one day and one on next. On subsequent rudder control checks the scratching was not felt. The checks were performed slightly more rapidly than on the initial check; but still done at a slow; deliberate pace. On the second and third legs I did not feel the scratchy feel at full throw right. Late in November I felt the same thing but on a different aircraft; a scratchy feel at full throw right rudder. It was more pronounced than the previous aircraft's had been; and had an accompanying faint swishing sound when the scratching was felt. Again; it occurred within the last 2 inches of right rudder throw. The aircraft was taken out of service and ferried for troubleshooting. In a conversation with Maintenance they indicated they thought the rudder centering bearing may be the cause.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.