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RV9A Gust lock, safety feature.

ron sterba

Well Known Member
ron sterba ron sterba is online now

Join Date: May 2007
Location: salem Oregon
Posts: 938
Wink RV9A safety gust lock:
Ok was looking for a better way to lock my surfaces on my RV9A. That wire I have on the rudder just didn?t cut it on a windy day. Usually there isn?t enough wind to move my elevator. To my amazement the elevator was up! Dang on the ramp was it another plane or wind or both. Made mention to another 9er A guy there he said being close to Mt Hood hard telling but said he bought a Gust Lock brace from Anti-Splat website and now every surface is STILL. I order one and love it! That guy was right, you put it between the rudder pedals and stick and lock it into place. You?ll have to make the early adjustment for your plane but once done walla! Tang why didn?t I think of that. You can forget taking it out and it folds to about a foot and don?t think it weighs anymore than two pounds. Well built if I might aid. Nice job Anti-splat! and thanks.

Ron in Oregon
RV9A
 
ron sterba ron sterba is online now

Join Date: May 2007
Location: salem Oregon
Posts: 938
Wink RV9A safety gust lock:
Ok was looking for a better way to lock my surfaces on my RV9A. That wire I have on the rudder just didn’t cut it on a windy day. Usually there isn’t enough wind to move my elevator. To my amazement the elevator was up! Dang on the ramp was it another plane or wind or both. Made mention to another 9er A guy there he said being close to Mt Hood hard telling but said he bought a Gust Lock brace from Anti-Splat website and now every surface is STILL. I order one and love it! That guy was right, you put it between the rudder pedals and stick and lock it into place. You’ll have to make the early adjustment for your plane but once done walla! Tang why didn’t I think of that. You can forget taking it out and it folds to about a foot and don’t think it weighs anymore than two pounds. Well built if I might aid. Nice job Anti-splat! and thanks.

Ron in Oregon
RV9A

I’ll second that. The really cool thing is that you can lock down all control surfaces without getting out of the plane or even taking your feet off the brakes. This came in handy on a recent trip after landing into a 35 mph surface wind at Eureka, CA. After a very caution taxi to the ramp, It was easy to stabilize everything enough to then get out and tie down the plane safely. I was grateful to have parking brakes that day too.- Otis
 
I bought one about 4 years ago and have been using it.

I have came back to my plane on at least 3 different occasions while tied down with the Antisplat control lock in place to find it didn?t hold the control surfaces good enough to a point where damage could have been done. The first time it happened I thought maybe I didn?t set the device in place properly. After that I made a point to be careful on how I set it only to find it had moved again in the right windy circumstances. I don?t keep my plane outside on many days of the year.

A minor issue in comparison is that it scratches the paint on your control stick.
The Antisplat people say to just put tape on the stick to protect it. I tried that but it digs thru the tape into the paint. On the other hand the machining and the materials of the device is of good quality.

I?ll continue to use this device until I see a better solution out there.

This is my experience and yours may be different.

Jim
RV9a
 
I bought one about 4 years ago and have been using it.

I have came back to my plane on at least 3 different occasions while tied down with the Antisplat control lock in place to find it didn?t hold the control surfaces good enough to a point where damage could have been done. The first time it happened I thought maybe I didn?t set the device in place properly. After that I made a point to be careful on how I set it only to find it had moved again in the right windy circumstances. I don?t keep my plane outside on many days of the year.

A minor issue in comparison is that it scratches the paint on your control stick.
The Antisplat people say to just put tape on the stick to protect it. I tried that but it digs thru the tape into the paint. On the other hand the machining and the materials of the device is of good quality.

I?ll continue to use this device until I see a better solution out there.

This is my experience and yours may be different.

Jim
RV9a

?.Jim! If your gust lock is coming off you need to adjust it out another hole
in length. If the tension is set properly it is impossible for it to dislodge. It
should require 40 to 50 pounds of pressure on the loading pedal when it is
properly set. As for the gust lock scratching your stick, we spent a considerable
sum for tooling to manufacture nylon wear pads that actually keep this from
happening. If you contacted us with an issue like this, and one of my guys
told you to put tape on your stick please tell me his name so he can begin
collecting unemployment. If your wear pads failed or came out causing this
then we apologize, and if you send your gust lock to us, we will make it right
and return it to you in as new condition at no expense. Thanks, Allan..:eek:
 
Allan, I haven't had any issues with my control lock coming off. In fact I love mine and have been using it for years. But I do agree with the previous poster about some minor paint damage to the stick.

Mine does have the nylon pads that protect the front and sides of the stick, but the back side of the stick where the pin bears on it gets a little paint damage. There's also some paint missing now from the rudder pedals where the gust lock sits on them. Open to any ideas you have on preventing that.

Again, the gust lock works great.
 
Allan, I haven't had any issues with my control lock coming off. In fact I love mine and have been using it for years. But I do agree with the previous poster about some minor paint damage to the stick.

Mine does have the nylon pads that protect the front and sides of the stick, but the back side of the stick where the pin bears on it gets a little paint damage. There's also some paint missing now from the rudder pedals where the gust lock sits on them. Open to any ideas you have on preventing that.

Again, the gust lock works great.

?.The steel set pin will mark a very small spot on the stick just under the grip
and unfortunately it would be very difficult to get away from this without
compromising the effectiveness of the devise. A simple way to hide from view
the rudder pedals chips is to install a set of our pedal extensions.:rolleyes::rolleyes:
.
 
I have to say, given previous outstanding customer service from Allan, that hearing "buy more of our products to hide the damage being caused by the other one" isn't exactly what I expected to hear. :confused:
 
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I have to say, given previous outstanding customer service from Allan, that hearing "buy more of our products to hide the damage being caused by the other one" isn't exactly what I expected to hear. :confused:

?.That was an attempt at humor! Sorry you missed it. :D
 
While I appreciate the humor, it was not accompanied by a real response to my inquiry. I suppose that means one must simply live with the rudder pedal damage, and there are no ideas to prevent it that you'd like to submit?
 
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Modified Anti Splat Gust lock

I modified Allen's design to have bracing to attach to the bottom of the instrument panel as well as fitting around my grip.

Hope these photos work

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IMG_1948.JPG
 
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