need input from those with 6/7/9 *plus* 4 time

After 25 years of flying -4s (with lots of other stuff mixed in), I just bought a nice -6. I'm trying to get seating position + rudder pedal position sorted for me, and I'm finding some, uh, interesting differences between the -4 & -6.

When I purchased my -4 back around the turn of the century, I moved the rudder pedals as far forward as I could, and lengthened the cable attach straps as far as I could, without having the firewall limit pedal movement. I also reclined the seat by moving the top to behind, instead of the front of the roll bar brace. Note that I'm not tall (~5' 9") or heavy (~155 lbs, fully clothed and sweaty). I've been very comfortable with these settings, and can fully 'box' the stick with one pedal fully deflected, without the stick hitting my thigh.

On this -6. I've moved the pedals as close as I can get them in the holes drilled by the builder (center block is ~1 1/2" forward of the aft end of the 10" long center brace The most forward seat back position is still ~2" farther away from the bottom of the pedals than in my -4. And because that puts me so close to the stick, full aft and side corner of the box with full rudder deflection bites into my thigh. Not my favorite stick position for my hand, either. It seems that the -6 stick position is significantly farther aft, relative to the seat back and pedals, than the -4.

At this point, I'm looking at drilling one more set of holes for the pedal mounts (will require moving some stuff the builder tied to the center brace), and possibly still needing to add pedal extensions, in order to get my torso far enough from the stick to get clear movement.

Is my size that far off the center of the 'bell curve'?
Anyone else run into this, and if so, what was your solution

Thanks,

Charlie

Charlie,
Have you tried re-rigging the stick position? You might be able to adjust the rod end bearings enough on the elevator push-pull tubes to give your stick a slight forward tilt, which may help with your problem. You can do a combination of shortening the tube on the bottom of your stick and elevator bell crank, or lengthening the big tube on the top of the bellcrank going to the tail. Make sure you leave at least 1/2 of the threaded part of the rod bearing inside the tube on the big one in the back, or at least 1/2 of the threads on the forward, lower tube going into the rod end bearings on that end. There is usually a fair amount of adjustment available and may help eliminate your issue.

Thanks, Scott, that might be worth a shot.

I had a 4 which I flew for 450 hrs over 4 years. I did not build it so I don't know if there was anything special done in the build. It fit me from the start with no changes required other than a spacer to raise the seat a bit. I am 5'10" and 160 lbs.

I finished building my 7 almost 2 years ago and have 260 hrs on it so far. I built it with the pedals in the most forward position as per the drawings. I fly it with the seat in the center of the 3 positions. This allows me to get full rudder deflection with a little adjustment room for both longer or shorter leg pilots or passengers. On the ground doing my control checks the stick does press a bit on my thighs at full deflection, but in the air I have never noticed it. I don't do any hard aero. I do agree that the stick in the 7 seems a little farther back than in the 4.

Controls on both planes were set up for deflections as per the manual.

Hi Al,

I also raised the seat height, in both the -4 & the -6. The -4 mostly to get my head higher after reclining the seat back, but in the -6, it was the 1st thing I tried in an attempt to get enough leg movement. Sitting down in the 'bucket' of the seat pan, I found that I couldn't extend my legs at all when pushing the rudder pedals.

I might just be more 'picky' than most; both the seller (a friend) and the CFI we both use (also a friend) are roughly my height, and neither seemed to have any complaints about relative stick/pedal position. I guess my primary training was both a blessing & a curse; I probably use near-full rudder deflection slips on 60-80% of my landings.

It's looking more and more like pedal extensions are in my future...

Charlie

I had a 4 that i flew for about 150 hours. It fit me perfectly other than i hated how upright the seat was. I am only about 5'8" and 165. I now have a 6 and with the seat in the middle position i can just barely use the rudder pedals comfortably but have another cushion under my seat to help with visibility. I do find the stick is really far back and with anyone that has any kind of stomach i have to put the passenger seat all the way back just to be able to get full aft stick.

Stick modification

Has anyone made a curved stick for their 6 or 7? Basically, a design that would put a little forward joggle in the stick that would move it away from the pilot a little bit and closer to the panel might work well. I know the overall height would need to be shortened a little bit to clear the panel, but I think that would be a small price to pay to gain the extra clearance between the stick and pilot.

It's crossed my mind; I'd like to know the answer to that, as well. And, making the pilot stick removable would certainly make 'dumpster diving' less painful.

Anyone done it?

rv7charlie said:

It's crossed my mind; I'd like to know the answer to that, as well. And, making the pilot stick removable would certainly make 'dumpster diving' less painful.

Anyone done it?

Click to expand...

Yep...I?m definitely making mine removable to facilitate those dumpster diving missions. I never really understood why the copilots side is removable but the pilots side isn?t??

Oh, I get the logic; if it's not removable, you can't forget to pin it. But....