Aileron Actuation

Section 23

I had started this section awhile back but unfortunately messed up on some drilling and ended up with my torque tube lengths being too short.  I could of used washers to make up the length but instead decided to try my hand at some welding at a later date to see if I could fill in the holes. Later came and well, instead of welding the holes I basically blow torched larger holes.  I ended up using the piece to practice a few things and decided I'm not ready to weld airplane parts.  Instead I ordered a new tube which was $20 so not an expensive mistake.

Big Gap

With the new part I was able to catch up pretty fast and get the assemblies installed.  The most difficult part is making sure everything is lined up in the neutral position.  If you mess up here you really might not notice until you're ready to fly, which in that case I'm hoping to get some extra help with the rigging so the plane doesn't fly sideways.

New parts properly clocked

 With aligning both the push rods and the ailerons Vans provides you a jig of sorts to help with finding neutral alignment.  This little aluminium piece jig bolts onto the bell crank allowing you to find the correct position for both push rods. This allows you to adjust the pushrods as needed so they're the correct length when you have both the torque tubes and the bell crank in neutral position.  I should mention that I used a ruler and a clamp to find the neutral positions of the torque tubes. Didn't take a picture but in short you want to make sure you put these in the correct position.

Push rod installed

All in all works out pretty well and I'm assuming during Phase I you can tweak these for 'heavy wings' or other unwanted things.

At this point you install your flaps 'temporarily' to find the correct alignment of the ailerons.  I saw temporarily because the plans do, not sure when you take them back off but I guess I'll find out later.  I had problems finding a particular bushing which required me to do some internet searching.  What I came up with was that they were the 6 bronze bushings provided and labeled differently than the plans.

Flap Bushings

It's a very tight squeeze and read that some people just sanded out the area a bit until they could fit them.  Not liking that approach I instead stuck all 6 bushings in the freezer for about 20 mins to shrink them just enough that I could use a C-clamp to squeeze them on.  Worked out well and then to get about the same 1/32" clearance on both sides I used a large nut so the bushing could squeeze through without smashing it.

I again didn't take pictures of the next part but at this point most builders are used to the method of test fitting control rods, remove, adjust retry.  The key is to match the alignment of the flaps to give a straight edge.  Once you have it you can reinstall everything, torque down the bolts and this section is done.

Doesn't look like much but functioning control services are neat!