cowl pin retainers/ cabin side only

I installed my lengthwise pins on my RV-7 from the cabin through the 902L&R then through the firewall and assumed since they fit fairly snug there wouldn't be a need for any type of retainer.

Unfortunately I was wrong. While doing some climb testing the other day one of the pins slid out into the cabin in the blink of an eye, almost as if it was an arrow shot from a blow gun.

I caught the pin just before it was completely out of the firewall and shoved it back in about the time the plane stalled.

Luckily there was no damage to the plane or cowl but the slow uncomfortable heart pounding flight back to the airport so I could change my shorts has made me decide I need some kind of retainer for the pins.

Any pics that show how your cowl pins are being held in would be appreciated.

For now I'm using a piece of safety wire but thats not ideal.

The search function didn't show many recent threads and most of the older pics are gone.

Travis

Cowl pins

I made a couple of angle brackets that each had a hole in the top the same diameter as the cowl pin. The cowl pins were bent 90 degrees at the end. I then scuffed the interior skin and the bracket and prosealed them in place such that the 90 degree bend portion of the wire would go into the hole and be held there by the springiness of the wire. Worked great.

Travis,

I use a standard 1/4? AN bulkhead fitting in the cabin. On the engine side of the fitting I run 1/4? aluminum tubing, the end of the tubing has a 3/16?? rivet with a #40 hole drilled in the center and the head cut off. The rivet is inserted into the end of the tubing with a touch of JB well, leaving about 1/4? out of the tube. Just this last 1/4? extends through the firewall - so the 1/4? tubings (the pin conduit) is locked in place and the pin is perfectly lined up with the first cowl hinge eye.

On the cabin side I leave the pin perhaps 2? long, then another piece of 1/4? tubing, flared and AN fitting, slides over the pin and screws on the AN bulkhead fitting. The end of the tube is capped by a self taping screw - and perhaps another touch of JB weld. This is pin locking device.

Carl

Thanks for the info guys but pics are worth a thousand words....

birddog486 said:

Thanks for the info guys but pics are worth a thousand words....

Click to expand...

Here you go.
Carl