jsharkey
Well Known Member
I was having real trouble fitting the small OD spacer washers on the aileron bell cranks on my RV6. Access is limited and the clevises on the horns are tight and need to be sprung open a bit to make things fit. After several attempts I came up with the following.
I split a length of 1/4" OD polythene water pipe and removed a ~1/16" axial strip to form a flexible spiral type pin.
This is fitted into the bore of the rod end and the washers are fitted over the extruding ends of the "spring pin". I cut the length of the pin to be a smidgen longer than the thickness of the rod end and washer stack.
This assembly can be pinched between fingers and slipped between the horn clevis. The poly pin is naturally lubricated and slides easily in the clevis gap while holding the washers in place. The slight excess length also allows it to snap into the bolt holes. Once in place the bolt can be pushed through the stack ejecting the "spring pin" in the process.
It was still a pain but this worked for me. I was getting nowhere with everything else that I tried.
Jim Sharkey
RV6 - Waiting on Registration from FAA
PS - I had to use a shim washer under the head of the bolts on the end of the long aileron control tube so that the tail of the bolt cleared the horn bearing support angles by a minimal margin. I had initially tried using 3/4" grip bolts rather than the 5/8" grip in the plans in order to get more thread engagement with the nut but this was a big mistake. Even with the spacer washer under the head of the 5/8" grip bolts the clearance is minimal - as is the thread engagement on the nut. Has anyone else experienced this?
I split a length of 1/4" OD polythene water pipe and removed a ~1/16" axial strip to form a flexible spiral type pin.
This is fitted into the bore of the rod end and the washers are fitted over the extruding ends of the "spring pin". I cut the length of the pin to be a smidgen longer than the thickness of the rod end and washer stack.
This assembly can be pinched between fingers and slipped between the horn clevis. The poly pin is naturally lubricated and slides easily in the clevis gap while holding the washers in place. The slight excess length also allows it to snap into the bolt holes. Once in place the bolt can be pushed through the stack ejecting the "spring pin" in the process.
It was still a pain but this worked for me. I was getting nowhere with everything else that I tried.
Jim Sharkey
RV6 - Waiting on Registration from FAA
PS - I had to use a shim washer under the head of the bolts on the end of the long aileron control tube so that the tail of the bolt cleared the horn bearing support angles by a minimal margin. I had initially tried using 3/4" grip bolts rather than the 5/8" grip in the plans in order to get more thread engagement with the nut but this was a big mistake. Even with the spacer washer under the head of the 5/8" grip bolts the clearance is minimal - as is the thread engagement on the nut. Has anyone else experienced this?
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