Note: OK, get your "stick" jokes out of your system, but at some point in the project, we builders just have to jump in the saddle, grab the stick, position it where it belongs, and decide whether this will feel good...or start to hurt over time. There. Now that we got the 900 lb. gorilla out of the way...
I finished my control sticks. The straight stock control sticks brought the stick and stick grip far too closely to me. Placing the elevator to neutral forced my arm to wedge between my side and the cockpit wall....numb!
Thus, I used 3/4" white PVC and my heat gun to shape a double-bended template:
This design moved the control grip away from me at a comfortable distance. In doing so, I was careful to build space between the top of the stick and the throttle/mixture bracket and the control panel.
It would have been great to use the stock Van's straight stick pipes and just bend them into shape. However, they're so thin-walled that bending them would surely kink them. Randy Richmond (52F Van's mechanic extraordinaire) pointed me toward the solution.
Once I was happy with the PVC template design, I gave the PVC template to Randy Richmond, who turned it over to Tom Meyer of Meyer Aircraft, Double Oak, TX. Tom crafted two identical pipes of the proper Outside diameter but with thicker walls. He also left me a good 4-5 inches of excess end.
With careful trimming and attention to the clock positions for the Infinity military-style grips, I came up with these:
I'm using 16-pin CPC barrel plugs from Gulf Coast to connect the stick wiring to the aircraft end. With my seat cushions and seat back pads in place (thanks Abby!), and with the stick held in position (elevators neutral), my left arm rests quite comfortably on my left leg. Throwing the stick full forward/right gives me several inches clearance between my trimming thumb and the throttle/mixture bracket.
Ahhh. I love a custom-fitted airplane.
I finished my control sticks. The straight stock control sticks brought the stick and stick grip far too closely to me. Placing the elevator to neutral forced my arm to wedge between my side and the cockpit wall....numb!
Thus, I used 3/4" white PVC and my heat gun to shape a double-bended template:
This design moved the control grip away from me at a comfortable distance. In doing so, I was careful to build space between the top of the stick and the throttle/mixture bracket and the control panel.
It would have been great to use the stock Van's straight stick pipes and just bend them into shape. However, they're so thin-walled that bending them would surely kink them. Randy Richmond (52F Van's mechanic extraordinaire) pointed me toward the solution.
Once I was happy with the PVC template design, I gave the PVC template to Randy Richmond, who turned it over to Tom Meyer of Meyer Aircraft, Double Oak, TX. Tom crafted two identical pipes of the proper Outside diameter but with thicker walls. He also left me a good 4-5 inches of excess end.
With careful trimming and attention to the clock positions for the Infinity military-style grips, I came up with these:
I'm using 16-pin CPC barrel plugs from Gulf Coast to connect the stick wiring to the aircraft end. With my seat cushions and seat back pads in place (thanks Abby!), and with the stick held in position (elevators neutral), my left arm rests quite comfortably on my left leg. Throwing the stick full forward/right gives me several inches clearance between my trimming thumb and the throttle/mixture bracket.
Ahhh. I love a custom-fitted airplane.
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