Paul Stewart wrote:
> 1) The manual says to assemble the rudder pedals proir to installation 'to
> check they are straight'. Anyone got any ideas what to do if they are not?
> Ours are not quite straight, not by much but enough to make them very stiff
> once the tufnol bushes are bolted into place - a little gentle presuasion
> perhaps?
That might be more due to out-of-round of the tubing as probable
artifact of welding. I just dressed up the Tufnol where blackening of
the Tufnol so indicated. Minor lack of straightness should have
little effect. The resulting bad geometry could cause a problem,
except that the angular travel is small.
> 2) Again instructions are to set up the rudder pedals on to the floor then
> lay up BID with the pedals insitu - seems like a tricky layup. Can't see
> what's wrong with positioning the floors using the pedals, bonding them
> with rapid epoxy then removing the pedals prior to laying up the BID floor -
> any thoughts.
I didn't find the layup to be much frustrated by the pedals. 5-minute
is relatively soft, and like any epoxy continues to cure well past the
set time, as will the bid layup itself -- a few thousandth's shift can
cause binding. Using your method, I'd reinstall the pedals promptly
for the cure, but that'll require some care to avoid messing up the
layup and getting epoxy on the pedals.
In fact, if the underside layup is recent, a layup on only one side of
plywood warps it, well into the full cure period (week+). Don't
remove them for a while when done, should there be a need to do so.
Don't ask how I know that now!
> 3) A while ago someone posted something about installing a set of car
> pedals - anyone got any more details?
May have been me. The rubber part is just universal pad replacement,
---From an auto parts store, for foot-operated parking brake or
stick-shift brake/clutch pedals. Fashion approx. 3/4" stub of 4130
tubing to attach to top of pedal pointing at the pilot. Add small
sheet steel plate, over which the pad fits. For my tri-gear, I just
Redux/flox'd the assembly using long 6-32 screws. For the monowheel,
that might not survive in-service (ab)use, suggesting welding would be
better. What this does is at least make them look like rudder pedals
and prevents wear of the coating. For my body dimensioning, it also is
more comfortable.
I suggest you also mark each Tufnol block as to placement,
orientation, and its "mate," for future removal and reassembly. Else
another cause of binding.
Regards,
Fred F., A063, N3EU
|