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A few questions regarding the forward floor, RV-8

izzybear

Well Known Member
Friend
I have a few ?front cockpit questions to ask the masses :

1. Rudder pedals : I am curious what others have done regarding whether to powder coat, apply some sticky tape (like wing walk tape) or the truck bed spray or just leave them bare? I currently have untouched pedals and thought about powder coating, but now I am thinking that might make them slick. (not a good thing on rudder pedals) What have you done and what do you like/dislike about your choice?

2. Forward floor : I am curious what others have done with the forward floor ? again, I am thinking that the painted floor might be slick ? I am thinking about ingress and egress mostly ? should I put down the wing walk tape, leave it bare and not worry about it? What have you done and what do you like/dislike about your choice?

3. Delrin slides on flight-adjustable rudder pedals : Do the Delrin slides need anything under them? I believe I heard that one should put down some stainless steel skin or tape as the delrin slides will eventually wear down the paint on the floor and dig into the aluminum floor. I really don?t think I will be moving my pedals fore and aft much, as I am 6?4? and they will be all/most of the way forward. Am I overthinking this one or is this an issue?

Bonus question ? It?s time for me to install the static port. By the ?looks? of the SafeAir system, it is very secure, robust and generally good quality stuff. But I have only seen pictures and videos. Some research has turned up that at least the older posts seemed to have issues with leaks and erroneous readings. There isn?t a lot of recent talk about the safeair ports and it seems like they may have changed the design of the static port itself, from a more protruding (into the airstream), flat surface to a less protruding, chamfered surface. I like the simplicity and the cost (already paid for) of the Van?s port (a hollowed out blind rivet) so I was wondering about those that use either the safeair or the van?s system - What did you choose and what do you like/dislike about your choice? Have you had leaks and do you/did you have erroneous readings?

Thanks, in advance for your responses! :)
 
I have a few ?front cockpit questions to ask the masses :

1. Rudder pedals : I am curious what others have done regarding whether to powder coat, apply some sticky tape (like wing walk tape) or the truck bed spray or just leave them bare?

2. Forward floor : I am curious what others have done with the forward floor ? again, I am thinking that the painted floor might be slick ? I am thinking about ingress and egress mostly ? should I put down the wing walk tape, leave it bare and not worry about it? What have you done and what do you like/dislike about your choice?

3. Delrin slides on flight-adjustable rudder pedals : Do the Delrin slides need anything under them? I believe I heard that one should put down some stainless steel skin or tape as the delrin slides will eventually wear down the paint on the floor and dig into the aluminum floor. I really don?t think I will be moving my pedals fore and aft much, as I am 6?4? and they will be all/most of the way forward. Am I overthinking this one or is this an issue?

Bonus question ? It?s time for me to install the static port. By the ?looks? of the SafeAir system, it is very secure, robust and generally good quality stuff. But I have only seen pictures and videos. Some research has turned up that at least the older posts seemed to have issues with leaks and erroneous readings. There isn?t a lot of recent talk about the safeair ports and it seems like they may have changed the design of the static port itself, from a more protruding (into the airstream), flat surface to a less protruding, chamfered surface. I like the simplicity and the cost (already paid for) of the Van?s port (a hollowed out blind rivet) so I was wondering about those that use either the safeair or the van?s system - What did you choose and what do you like/dislike about your choice? Have you had leaks and do you/did you have erroneous readings?

Thanks, in advance for your responses! :)

Rudder Pedals - I left mine bare, I typcially fly with tennis shoes and have not had any issues with slippage of my feet during operations.

Forward Floor - To he honest, getting in\out of my 8 is not the most graceful act, most of my time getting in\out has my feet on the seat cushion. My floor its painted with flat grey primer. It does show some dirt....but the now dirty seats are probably more of a distraction than the dirty floor. No issues with slipping\traction on mine.

Static port - I used the safe air, in straight, level flight I think I have accurate airspeed but I perceive (no hard data) that anything less than perfectly coordinated flight throws in error. On the -10 I am building I will be using the Van's rivet technique
 
I have a few ?front cockpit questions to ask the masses :

1. Rudder pedals : Mine are bare. They work great. I never see them when I'm flying. They function well.

2. Forward floor : My floor is painted but the paint is wearing off where my feet contact the floor. I get plenty of traction between my shoes and the floor. Sliding in and climbing out is no problem. I mostly use my arm strength to lift myself up. I like the way it is.

3. Delrin slides on flight-adjustable rudder pedals : Am I overthinking this one or is this an issue? No. Its a valid question.


Thanks, in advance for your responses! :)


I've been flying mine for a couple years. I'm a buyer not a builder. Really want to build something.

I hope this helps.
 
No,No,Yes.

We have had no problems with leaving everything bear and just painting the floor. The slides are fine as is, and you will like the Safe Air pitot static plumbing. We have it with a Garmin heated pitot. Yours, R.E.A. III #80888
 
Rudders bare with heel rests added, if I ever have em out I will bend the heel rests back a bit more...

Floor bare, have not slipped yet but could if wet. Some slip good for large rudder movement...

Delrin slides, mine moved about 3 times & have stayed put. Multiple pilots could cause a bit of wear but don't think it would be an issue.

Static ports, Van's, work fine...
 
My rudder pedals are painted and I've flown the airplane with just a painted floor and with a rubber mat/carpet piece installed there. No difference, no slipping nothing. I don't think functionally it matters much one way or another.

As far as the adjustable pedal assembly, I don't think that matters much either. Once you find your position you won't be moving them anyway unless you have multiple people flying the plane.
 
I left my pedals bare

Assembling rudder pedals by Andy Karmy, on Flickr

I painted the forward floor but after a few hours of flying it became scratched up and the dirt would stick in the scratches. Worked fine but looked bad. So I cleaned it up at about 50 hours and laid down some RCAllen wing walk material. The difference with this stuff is it's not very abrasave more like small bubbles in the plastic / rubber. It's just the right amount of friction to push on to get out but doesn't cause any problems using the rudders. I like it very much. I cut it just inside the UHMW blocks and from the firewall to the spar.
 
Forward floor painted (PPG Single Stage paint over PPG DP-40 LF primer - same for all the cockpit). I added a couple of pieces of 3M no slip self adhesive tape where the heals go. I also put the 3M tape in the rear seat passenger foot wells to mitigate wear.

All good after 14 years.

I painted over the rudder assembly powder coat with the same paint(some 200 grit sandpaper first). Rudder peddles also pointed and a few no slip pads added (but on hindsight non-slip here not really needed).

I make my own static ports from 3/4" or so long 3/16" round head rivets. I drill a 1/16" hole through the rivet head. The rivet shank fits well inside a 1/4" poly tube. I add a small 1/4" thick by about 3/4" circular backing plate on the cabin side of the rivet shank for support. Some pro-seal or JB weld to hold it all together (backing plate to fuselage, backing plate to rivet shank, rivet shank to poly tube). I went this way when the store bought static ports yielded a huge altitude error.

Carl
 
Pedals and floor

Rudder pedals: I cleaned up my pedals, rounded all of the edges, and carefully wire brushed them. I then had them anodized black along with the canopy tracks. After 600 hours and 7 years, they have held up very well.

Floor: My forward floor is primed with Sherwin Williams Aerospace epoxy primer and finished with JetFlex. This has also held up well. I do not have any issues with my feet slipping around.

Since I have the ground adjustable rudder pedals, I can't answer your third question.

Skylor
RV-8
 
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Thanks!

Thanks everyone for your input - it gives me much to think about. I sure appreciate having a wealth of experience this close by. Thanks again. :)
 
It has been my experience with tailwheel airplanes that your heels need to slide rather easily when waltzing on the rudders. Carpet doesn't hold up well, unless there is some vinyl or even aluminum where your heels are in action. When I finished by RV-8, I used a product called "coin grip pvc flooring", or "dime mat". It is the same stuff you see in the galley of an A320 when you enter via the forward boarding door. I made a pattern so that when I cut the mat, it fit nicely around the gear towers. That insures that it doesn't slide around when I move my feet. It has worked perfectly, and does not show any wear after 350 hours of flying. You can shop around, but here is a potential source:

http://www.rubbercal.com/coin-grip-rolls-rubber-flooring.html

I painted my rudder pedals, but the paint is worn off where my feet are in action. BTW, the rubber pads with R V on them in the picture are pretty cool. Where did they come from?
 
Rudder pedals on my build made by Paul at http://controlapproach.com/ (I saw him the other day and I think he may have some in stock right now, as well) and the surface is textured. Provides some grip, yet feet can also slide as needed and the geometry seems it can really help in keeping toes off brakes except when needed/intended.

I plan to put vinyl self-adhering wing walk material from Flyboys on the floor.

The pedals:





 
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Hi Greg,
on the first picture you have the Grove break Reservoir and on the others the "stock" setup. Which solution did you use in the end and why?

Rudder pedals on my build made by Paul at http://controlapproach.com/ (I saw him the other day and I think he may have some in stock right now, as well) and the surface is textured. Provides some grip, yet feet can also slide as needed and the geometry seems it can really help in keeping toes off brakes except when needed/intended.

I plan to put vinyl self-adhering wing walk material from Flyboys on the floor.

The pedals:





 
Rudder Pedal Scuff Plates

Hello !

I am quite enjoying this thread, as I am right at that stage in my RV-8 building. I shall start assembling my rudder pedals any day now.

As for the forward floor, I picked up the idea of making "scuff plates" from another builder website. See picture below. I made the same plates out of 2024-T3 0.032" thick. Mine are 20 inches long by 5 inches wide. To install those scuff plates, I will replace 4 rivets with nut plates at the floor beams, then add two more nut plates at the front, for each scuff plates. I am right now installing those same plates on my fwd floor.

fuselage_interior_84_zpskvayjhat.jpg


With these scuff plate, my floor will not get damaged, and my feet will slide on easily while doing acro. This plates can be quickly replaced with new ones over time. The downside is that they add a little weight to the aircraft.

For the rudder pedals, I will definitely purchase the rubber pedal extensions shown on this thread. Also, I am considering installing foot straps, just like on the CAP 10 aerobatic aircraft I used to fly. These straps are useful to keep your feet on the pedals while you are flying inverted....
 
RV-8 Forward Floor

I left my in-flight adjustable rudder pedals bare.

For my forward floor I left unpainted and went to the aviation aisle at Walmart and got clear vinyl ribbed auto floor mats and cut one to size so it begins just behind the pedals, it is sliced to accommodate the rear backet of pedal slide, it is notched around the gear towers which holds it in place, and comes back to just under start of front seat. It provides friction when climbing in/out and the ribbed area catches any pebbles or fluid from shoes. When it get stained I just put a new one in.
 
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Hi Greg,
on the first picture you have the Grove break Reservoir and on the others the "stock" setup. Which solution did you use in the end and why?

Used the grove reservoirs at the pedals. Trying to avoid the opportunities for leaks and whatnot with the stock setup. I have not flown yet, hopefully later this year. Of course, that's what I said last year. :)
 
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