My rule after flying an international trip is not to use power tools for 24 hours, so tonight I decided to try to sort out the flap rod issue a bit. I fabricated a stock flap rod out of 5/16" tubing, tapped it, and threaded on the rod-end bearings, to see if it would work without enlarging the right flap rod hole in the fuselage. Surprisingly, it actually improved the situation a bit. I was not expecting that. However, it did not completely solve the issue, and I still would have to enlarge the hole a bit more, something I'm not anxious to do. Tomorrow I will consult with a couple of local RV-8 builders to get their opinions.
My gut feeling is that I will have to connect the flap rods to the flaps using an alternate method, and I have one in mind. More soon.
Tapping the flap rod to 1/4"-28.
Stock flap rod on left. After-market Avery rod on right. Diameter really does matter.
