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Jeff & Jackie's RV-8 Project
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Date: 4-3-2008
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Number of Hours: 3.50
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Manual Reference: n/a
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Brief Description: Trutrak autopilot pitch servo
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Well, the Trutrak autopilot servos and mounting hardware arrived today so I was able to get on with that while I have the top of the fuselage off. One of them is slightly damaged. I think it will be ok, but have emailed SteinAir anyway. I left work a little early and got started just as soon as I got home. When Jackie got home I put her to good use deburring and fitting the brackets while I worked on an adjustment to the neutral position of the elevtor bellcrank.
I decided that rather than replace the two pre-bent angles that Vans put into the baggage ribs, I would nest the Trutrak mounts outboard. This required two small modifications. Firstly we had to radius the corner to nest cleanly in the inside radius of the existing angle. Secondly, we had to lop around 3/8" off the forward end to clear the two AN470AD3 rivets that hold the little reinforcing bracket on. Yeah, I could have replaced the rivets with flush ones but this was way easier and that extra 3/8" seems redundant anyway.
We then removed the bellcrank and drilled the required hole; rather than make a spacer we'll just pop a washer inside the bellcrank to close up the gap when we re-assemble it. Then we attached the angles and drilled through with a 3/16" drill bit on each side for the servo attach bolt (the offside will also get a bolt, even though it doesn't actually hold anything). Finally, we then reassembled everything.
Obviously, because we nested the angles, rather than replace the stock ones, we shall need some longer bolts at final assembly, so I shall work out what I need and add them to my next hardware order.
We have also yet to drill for rivets. I'll do that tomorrow night. I noted that there was a small gap underneath each angle but it doesn't seem to be consistent along the length and is very thin. We tried to make some spacers from spare sheet, but it wasn't really a happening things. I'll eek some structural epoxy in there and cleco it at final assembly. When its set, then I shall rivet the angles in place.
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