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[January 7, 2010]


With the left elevator on, I decided to install the right elevator and finish rigging the elevator pushrods.


First I installed the long, thick pushrod between the elevator bellcrank and the elevator horns. I used three AN960-10 washers on either side. I think it called out for a AN3-14A bolt, which was WAY too long for me. I swapped it out for a -13A and it was perfect.


I thought I measured the elevator travel before, but I didn't find my manual checked off with me verifying the travel, so it decided to play it safe and do it again. This is the neutral postion: -7.2°.


Down position is -28.2°.


And up position= 19.2°. This gave me a down travel of 21° and upward travel of 26.4°. The manual called for the downward travel to be between 20° and 25°, and the upward between 25° and 30°. So I am cool in both directions.


Next I needed to make the control stick perpendicular to the longeron to trim the pushrods to the proper lengths. The fuselage was leaning at a 2.2° angle - aft down.


So I made sure the control stick was at 87.8° (90° - 2.2°). I adjusted the pushrods accordingly to acheive this relationship to the elevators being in their neutral position (held in place by a clamp). I ended up needing to thread the bearing ends all the way in on the thick pushrod, and the smaller pushrod barely had enough to be safe. I had about 23/64" of thread showing on the smaller pushrod. 13/32" was the max I calculated could be exposed to protect the pushrods in case the locknut came loose and the rod twisted to unscrew each side.


The bottom of the pushrod was rubbing on the passthrough of the F-705 bulkhead cutout. I used a dremel and some files to take about 1/16" - 3/32" off. I have about 1/32" - 1/16" clearance now. Should be fine.


I put some paint on it to protect it. It is the rear spar here, so it's kind of important.


Famous spelunker in the shop tonight? Nope, just my cold self. The light is terrible for how the plane is arranged now, so the headlamp was necessary.


I decided to install the aileron trim servo now before I installed the pushrod to mitigate any possible interference issues with using a screwdriver to install the screws for the servo. I am glad I did it this way. It would of been a pain otherwise. I also connected up the wires to the trim servo and tested them. Everything looked perfect.


Finally I torqued the locknuts and applued torque-seal to them. The next time I work on this I will install these for good. Good night in the shop. Bonus tonight was no work on the empennage fairing. I severely dislike working on that SOB, even though most of the hard work is done. Besides, not working on it gives me an opportunity to down some cold ones before bed!

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Last Modified: August 13, 2023