Tedtheflyer
Member
I finished assembling my rudder bars and drilled the delrin bearings to the fuselage and centerbrace. When I rotated the rudder bars in the bearings I watched the center brace deflecting because the long pipe in both rudder bars has a "wowee".
It appears that when the stirrups were welded to the rudder bar, the rudder bar has deformed and the net result is both ends of the rudder bar (both right and left assemblies are warped)) droop approx 1/8" down on the side where the stirrups are welded.
I'm not a welder, but I am told that when welding is done on one side of a pipe, heat must be applied to the other side to keep the pipe from deforming (like mine).
I'm sure that the center brace will eventually crack if this bar was installed as is. Replacing a cracked center brace later on would be a major fix.
I'm posting to find out if anyone else has run into this situation. I am also posting to alert other builders of this situation. The part #'s are WD655 R&L
I will be on the phone with Vans in the AM tomorrow and will post their recomended resolution to this problem.
It appears that when the stirrups were welded to the rudder bar, the rudder bar has deformed and the net result is both ends of the rudder bar (both right and left assemblies are warped)) droop approx 1/8" down on the side where the stirrups are welded.
I'm not a welder, but I am told that when welding is done on one side of a pipe, heat must be applied to the other side to keep the pipe from deforming (like mine).
I'm sure that the center brace will eventually crack if this bar was installed as is. Replacing a cracked center brace later on would be a major fix.
I'm posting to find out if anyone else has run into this situation. I am also posting to alert other builders of this situation. The part #'s are WD655 R&L
I will be on the phone with Vans in the AM tomorrow and will post their recomended resolution to this problem.