Just installed the rudder assembly to the fuselage. The fit is good, rudder pedal movement is smooth. However, when I clamped the center support bracket and fit in center bearing block, the block would slide on the bracket when the rudder pedals are rotated. This is due to the rudder tube is not perfectly straight. The curved tube would cause maximum movement of about 3/32" at the center bearing block (will be less for rudder operation range). A quick calculation showed the maximum force on the block due to the 3/32" deflection is about 10lbs, nothing to worry about stresswise.
My concern is smoothness of rudder operation. Anybody have observed this much of momvent at center bearing block? Will this result in a "sticky" rudder? I could find out later, but I don't want to find it the hard way after all the holes on the center bracket are drilled.
My concern is smoothness of rudder operation. Anybody have observed this much of momvent at center bearing block? Will this result in a "sticky" rudder? I could find out later, but I don't want to find it the hard way after all the holes on the center bracket are drilled.