Chapter Log

Step 0 - Materials
Status: Completed 
Est Time: 0.00, Actual: 0.00
Est Cost: $ 381.80, Actual: $ 360.00
Date Completed: 10/15/2005

Just about everybody recommends Dennis Oelmann's rudder pedals, so I bought those. They cost $350, plus $10 for shipping, and are supposed to be well worth it.

Step 1 - Pivot Mounts
Status: Completed 
Est Time: 8.00, Actual: 8.00
Est Cost: $ 0.00, Actual: $ 0.00
Date Completed: 04/26/2007

Installing the controls was relatively uneventful. There's a lot of tedious parts fabrication (metalworking isn't my favorite task, glad I'm not building an RV), but nothing really all that difficult.

I toyed for a while with the thought of using ball bearing pivots throughout, but eventually just stuck with the plans and used the nylon FMN10 bearings and bronze firewall bushings. They work fine, and there's no play in the system. At the time, the Cozy Girrrls hadn't yet produced their lovely caged bearings. If I did it over, I'd probably use theirs, but I don't really regret the decision enough to change it now.

The system is actually relatively complete, although I've removed some components to protect them while other steps are performed.

Step 2 - Pitch and Roll Parts
Status: Completed 
Est Time: 5.00, Actual: 5.00
Est Cost: $ 0.00, Actual: $ 0.00
Date Completed: 04/26/2007

I did all the parts at once, laid them all out on the floor so I could understand where they all fit, then installed them all at once. It worked.

Step 3 - Pitch and Roll Assembly
Status: Not Started 
Est Time: 0.00, Actual: 0.00
Est Cost: $ 0.00, Actual: $ 0.00
Date Completed: Incomplete

Step 4 - Pitch and Roll Installation
Status: In Progress 
Est Time: 12.00, Actual: 10.00
Est Cost: $ 0.00, Actual: $ 0.00
Date Completed: 04/09/2009

2009-04-09 (1 hour):
I completed the pitch and roll assembly nearly two years ago, but hadn't logged any pictures for it. Here you can see the forward bearing blocks and some of the controls installed. Today, I installed the map pockets, which I had made way back when, but not actually floxed in. One of them looks a little crooked, but it's just taller than it should be - it'll get trimmed down when I install the arm rest foam. I plan to make the arm rests in two pieces, one fixed top piece and one removable side piece (for inspection and maintenance of the control arms and tubes).

The controls are an endless series of metal tubes. I prepared mine several years ago, but had removed them to keep them from being damaged, and also to lighten the fuselage the last time I moved it. Today I reinstalled them and verified that there was no play in the system. Works great!

Step 5 - Rigging Rudders
Status: In Progress 
Est Time: 5.00, Actual: 2.00
Est Cost: $ 0.00, Actual: $ 0.00
Date Completed: 04/09/2009

04-09-2009 (2 hours):
If you look carefully at the first picture you can see that I didn't do such a good job of setting up my rudder cable conduits the first time around - I had a few kinks, and while the cable did slide smoothly in the channel, I really wanted to redo this step.

Today I ripped out and sanded off the patches for the old rudder cable conduit. I also changed how I installed it. Last time I stood there like an idiot at each spot, holding it while the 5-minute cured. This was a huge invitation to holding it at the wrong angle (which I did). This time I put the cable in the conduit first, tied it to the pedals, the gave it tension at the firewall. This stretched the cable out so it was perfectly straight. Then I taped it at intervals along the fuselage wall so it stayed straight, and THEN I put 5-minute epoxy on it all at once, to hold it in place.

I'll add some cover patches later - for now the 5-minute is fine. I did cover it where the map pocket goes on top of them, though. That would be very hard to cover over later.

Step 6 - Rudder Stops and Brakes
Status: Not Started 
Est Time: 0.00, Actual: 0.00
Est Cost: $ 0.00, Actual: $ 0.00
Date Completed: Incomplete