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Stick Slap

Peter Costick

Peter Costick

Well Known Member
Hi

I have just fitted the emp to my fuse and connected up the stick to the elevators. I notice there is some back to front "slap", I measure this to be about 1/8th inch at the top of the stick. I have traced the source to the control column clevis.

So the question is - Is this normal for RV's?

If not then I suspect my 1/4 drill is not quite a 1/4 and I need to replace the bush.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Peter

VH-SVN (reserved)
 
hole sizing

Peter,
I cannot answer your question directly since I am not at that stage in my construction but, from a machinist's perspective, drills should be used only for clearance holes. If you are building a bearing, drill slightly undersize and ream to final dimension.

The resulting bearing surface will be much smoother and considerably better toleranced.

-Mike
 
Mine has a little slop in it. It hasn't bothered me in over a year of flying. The only time I am aware of the slop is when I actually look for it. I don't notice it when flying. It's not something that will wear out prematurely. I think a lot of RVs exhibit this. But if it concerns you, get a new bushing. I'm not sure if mine is that bushing or just some small accumulations of slop between the sticks. Seems like mine is coming from the bushings being too short and there is a little side thrust slop and shows up mainly when moving one stick forward and the other aft, as opposed to being transferred to the elevator. Anyway, it doesn't seem to affect control, at least for me.

JMHO
Roberta
 
Peter Costick said:
Hi

I have just fitted the emp to my fuse and connected up the stick to the elevators. I notice there is some back to front "slap", I measure this to be about 1/8th inch at the top of the stick. I have traced the source to the control column clevis. So the question is - Is this normal for RV's?
If not then I suspect my 1/4 drill is not quite a 1/4 and I need to replace the bush. Thanks in advance for your help.
Peter VH-SVN (reserved)
Click to expand...
Peter,

It is always considered good practice to final ream any bolt hole using a reamer with lubricant and the proper RPM. A standard twist drill simply cannot produce a high quality hole like a reamer does, even when it is used in a drill press. Besides, there are differences in quality between one drill bit manufacturer and another. Resharpened drill bits further complicate things. For a solid rivet hole this means very little. But bolt holes, especially those used in the control system are another matter. I would hope "slap" is not considered normal for RV's. When I drill a 1/4" bolt hole, I final ream with a .2490 or .2495 or .2497 reamer to assure as snug a fit as possible. Even bolts can have slight differences in diameter from one manufacturer to another. Is all this attention to detail critical? Maybe not, but it is for me.

Rick Galati RV-6A "Darla"
 
robertahegy said:
Mine has a little slop in it. It hasn't bothered me in over a year of flying.
Click to expand...

I too have a bit of it. I replaced the bushing and that made it a touch better, but to really fix it you would have to replace the stick as I suspect it comes from the welded tube being over drilled / reamed for the bushing. As an interesting note, After discovering it on mine I checked 129RV at Vans and there is no play in theirs (of course) :)

Like Roberta, mine can only be felt on the ground if you shake the stick.
 
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