BSwayze
Well Known Member
I installed the elevator pushrods in my RV-7A fuselage and was very disappointed to hear something rubbing when I tested the forward-aft movement. I checked everything and I can't find anything wrong with my installation. I located where the rubbing problem is. It's the smaller forward pushtube, rubbing on the bottom of the hole through the F-705 bulkhead.
Here's a picture of the tube passing through the F-705. The tube moves up and down as it goes through it's forward-aft motion. In this shot, it's in the all-the-way-up position (stick full forward or full back). There's approximately 3/8" clearance remaining over the top of the tube.
This picture is blurry (sorry) but here the tube is all the way down, roughly when the stick is in the neutral position. The tube rubs on the bottom of the hole.
I put an inspection mirror under the tube in the bottom of the channel and took this picture. You can see how the rubbing of the tube is scraping the primer off the tube.
Has anyone else had this problem?
My first thought was to file away the bottom of the hole a little bit and enlarge the hole, but this is the rear spar stiffener for the wings and I'm afraid of weakening it.
I'm also wondering if my control column weldment, WD-610-PC, was made wrong. If the short descending arm that holds the pushrod is too long, it explains everything. I measured mine, and it's 3-5/8" from the bottom surface of the weldment to the middle of the bolt hole:
Is this the proper length? I can't find any dimensions for any of Vans weldments. How do some of yours compare?
Any comments or help greatly appreciated.
Here's a picture of the tube passing through the F-705. The tube moves up and down as it goes through it's forward-aft motion. In this shot, it's in the all-the-way-up position (stick full forward or full back). There's approximately 3/8" clearance remaining over the top of the tube.
This picture is blurry (sorry) but here the tube is all the way down, roughly when the stick is in the neutral position. The tube rubs on the bottom of the hole.
I put an inspection mirror under the tube in the bottom of the channel and took this picture. You can see how the rubbing of the tube is scraping the primer off the tube.
Has anyone else had this problem?
My first thought was to file away the bottom of the hole a little bit and enlarge the hole, but this is the rear spar stiffener for the wings and I'm afraid of weakening it.
I'm also wondering if my control column weldment, WD-610-PC, was made wrong. If the short descending arm that holds the pushrod is too long, it explains everything. I measured mine, and it's 3-5/8" from the bottom surface of the weldment to the middle of the bolt hole:
Is this the proper length? I can't find any dimensions for any of Vans weldments. How do some of yours compare?
Any comments or help greatly appreciated.