There was an early failure of the right rudder pedal leading to Mod. 12. So
where is the next point of failure ? The tail wheel has a very positive
stop, so there is nothing to stop you stressing the cable as far as your
strength allows. A cable of this diameter is rated at 1080 lb. and with a
properly formed nicopress sleeve it should be safe. But having had a
(possibly faulty) sleeve pull through in the landing roll with alarming
results, I wonder why we need to allow this over-stressing, which tends to
stretch the cable system anyway with time.
The good book gives a _minimum_ space of 15mm. beyond the pedal, presumably
to ensure that there is enough travel to provide the maximum force needed
through the elasticity of the cables, but IMHO you need a maximum stop too
behind the rudder pedal to prevent overstressing. With the new tail wheel
one will not even have the positive stops any more on the tail casting, and
---From a quick look the force will go onto some rather flimsier stops. So
there would seem to be a case for positive stop blocks on the footwell behind
the rudder pedals.
Graham C. G-EMIN
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