|
|
|
|
Dave's RV-7A Builder's Log
|
Date: 8-6-2017
|
Number of Hours: 6.00
|
Manual Reference:
|
Brief Description: Flight control rigging
|
|
Today’s mission was to complete the right aileron stop and get as much flight control rigging done as possible. Before I started that, and since the motorcycle jack was handy, I decided to test out my scale and get a basic idea of what my empty weight was going to be. I sort of threw together an assortment of wood scraps to make a platform on the jack pad (it was as bad as it sounds) and carefully jacked up the left main gear to slide the scale underneath. That side came in at 403 lbs. The nose was 257, and I quit while I was ahead. Later in the day I made some actual jack pads to use for the real weight and balance, but for now I’m pretty satisfied that I’ll have an empty weight around 1100 lbs when the interior is installed.
I had to change the bandsaw blade before I could do any work on the aileron stop, but once that was done, I started on the flight controls. Like always, the second time was both faster—and better—than the first attempt, and aside from the usual challenges of washers dropping on the floor, had the job done fairly quickly. The actual aileron rigging took quite a bit longer due to the steps required to get everything even. There are four adjustment points on each side of the aileron system—two on the pushrods from the fuselage to the bellcrank, and two on the pushrod from the bellcrank to the aileron. Each rod end bearing must be at least halfway into the pushrod, and one turn on even one bearing can move the aileron by almost ¼”. I ended up blocking the stick in a neutral position and clamping the ailerons to the wingtips to ensure everything was lined up. From there it was a simple (relatively speaking) matter of adjusting the rod end bearings to line up with the holes in the bellcranks. I finally got it all adjusted to my satisfaction, and after moving the control stick left and right, was happy to see full movement in both directions.
After the torquing the bolts in the wings, I climbed into the cockpit and secured all the bolts in the roll control part of the system.
|
|
Right aileron stop installed
|
|
Left wing bellcrank and wire routing
|
|
Right wing bellcrank, wire and autopilot servo
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Copyright © 2001-2024 Matronics. All Rights Reserved.
|
