Elevator Control Stick limits

I began evaluating a new (1.25in deeper) instrument panel today. I fitted the blank for the first time and expected to see bad interference between stick and panel in the full nose down stick position. Instead, the top of the uncut stick only came to barely 1.5in from the panel face. That's fine but....

Is this normal?

I don't think so. So I began looking for interference. There appears to be nothing hitting any part of the control linkage right back to the elevator bell crank. The larger aft control arm is not currently fitted so the elevator stops at the tail are not coming into play.

I cant even see what is limiting the fore-aft stick movement in the absence of the elevator stops at the tail. There appears to be air all around all moving parts of the system throughout its entire range of movement.

Does anybody know what the limiting factor is on control stick movement in the absence of the normal stops at the tail?

The link below goes to a photo below showing my fat hand grasping the uncut stick in the full forward position. I couldn't embed it despite the very clear instructions.

You'll have to show pictures of the mechanism for anyone to find the problem. Something has to be hitting something to stop the travel. My first guess would be the stick hitting the forward edge of the seat/spar cover cut-out.

Maybe going at this backwards? Shouldn't you be putting in the control stop in the tail, adjusting elevator for max up/down movement per section 15 in the manual... than adjusting the linkage for stick movement limits/interferences?

I tried to do this a while back for the same reason, deeper panel. I tried to take measurements from the 1/4 scale fuselage drawing, knowing the up and down elevator angle limits in the manual and working backwards through the linkage and assuming the angle of the stick on the drawing was the design neutral position. This was inconclusive. I then emailed Vans and asked what the design stick angles were for neutral, full up and full down, but they were unable to supply this information.

So it appears a full mockup or an actual installation of the control linkage and elevator is required to resolve this.

"... than adjusting the linkage for stick movement limits/interferences? "

The stick adjustments in all the RVs I've encountered varied a bit in neutral position dictated by panel clearance (some had lower panels, some higher) and pilot's arm length. Generally I start with neutral being perpendicular to the spar cap for SbS models, than adjust from there. Some RV-8s had the forward stick limit so far forward I couldn't reach it's stop when strapped in (those pilots were built like apes I guess)... Again, the elevator down stop must be there to fix the forward max motion. Also, depending on the stick grip you decide to go with- further adjustment will be required for clearances.

Everyone is different. Because I have short legs and a fat belly, I adjusted my controls based on down travel as far forward as possible and other adjustments from that datum. I also shortened my sticks considerably and never had a problem in over 25 years of flying it.

Yeh, my belly clearance influences my stick adjustments too... sadly.

Mel came closest

It was the upper edge of the seat/spar cut-outs through which the F-665 pushrod moves, linking the movement of the two sticks . Don't know how I didn't see that.

For clarity, years ago, when I trial fitted the elevators, I adjusted the control linkages to give a vertical stick with the elevators in trail. The project has moved location since and was fully disassembled. I am now getting back to where I was back then. In retrospect, maybe I should have adjusted the sticks to the middle of their travel (allowing for belly clearance) instead of simply vertical, with the elevators in trail.

The question I am working on now is what is the maximum length the sticks can be before hitting my thumb while passing under the panel lower edge and is that length reasonable? If it feels too short, then I can't live with a panel that deep and the layout is going to have to change.

To find out for sure, I think I am going to have to temporarily reassemble and rig the elevators again as Terrye says. Then I can see if I need to increase the size of those seat rib cut-outs and also determine the final length of the sticks.

Thanks for all the replies

be careful about deeper panels. you will have to cut the stick and then everbody will know that you have a short stick!