Brief Description: Install elevator control system
This was an interesting day in the workshop and quite a lot was accomplished. The various push rods were completed to connect the stick assemblies to the bellcrank and from the bell crank to the elevator. This included cutting to length, match drilling the threaded rod ends, priming the insides of the tubes, and riveting the rod ends in place. The rod end bearings were also installed per the dimensions shown in the plans.
The control column assembly was prepared by reaming the various holes to remove powder coating and the stick assemblies were fitted. This required some filing and reaming of the brass bushings as well as some careful grinding on the stick weldments where the pivot bolts are inserted.
The control column assembly, all the push/pull tubes, and the bellcrank was installed and connected to the elevators. Getting all the bolts, spacing washers, thrust washers, and nuts installed was a challenge and took more time than expected.
The elevator travel limits were checked against the shop manual. The down limit was fine but the stop for up elevator had to be trimmed to get the maximum up travel of 30 degrees (my actual measurement was closer to 28 degrees).
