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new rudder pedal mods for 8/8A

ship

ship

Well Known Member
Gang,
If anyone's interested, I came up with a different way to avoid accidental braking on my pedals. It's all-to-easy to hit those brakes, especially in taildraggers during the rudder dance on landing.

I wanted something "cheap, quick, strong, easy". No mods to the pedals or weldments. Pull the existing bolts. Drill the smaller ones (outboard) out to 1/4". Install the new bolt/pin/tubes and you're done.

Others have added a heel extension to the bottom of the pedal. Works ok .... but I didn't like the angle or the amount of upward pressure this can put on the master cylinder seals.

My "brainstorm" was to fabricate a free-rotating bar across the pedal in place of the two clevis bolts. Piece of cake, right? What started a simple exercise turned into a global hunt for exotic bolts.

Skip to end of long "bolt hunting" story: I should be able to get the whole thing made up for around $20/pair in quantity. The bolt/pin is a semi-custom item....none of the big hardware suppliers had what I needed but they can be made to order. But the minimum quantities are pretty large.

This ain't a profit-maker. I have my 2 prototype bolts already. Normally I'd just point you to where to get the hardware but these bolts are way too expensive to be ordered in singles.

If you're vaguely interested, let me know so I can get an approximate head-count. Figure on $20-25/aircraft (bolts, tubes, etc) incl. shipping....if I get enough interest to place an order for the bolt/pins.

Ship
[email protected]
 
Ship-

How about some pictures? I might be interested but am early enough in the build process that I can't really picture what you're talking about...

Thomas
RV-8 empennage
wings on order
 
pictures

pictures are now posted in "pedal mods" folder of PHOTO section on RV-8 Yahoo group.
 
thanks for posting the pix....what's the secret? my uploads kept getting "error" from the forum (i'm new to this one)

ship
 
ship said:
tried....to no avail. how does one post pix in the forums?
Click to expand...

You can't post pictures to this forum. However, what you can do is insert a link to a picture that is hosted/posted/loaded on another site. I used ImageShack (http://www.imageshack.ws) which is free when uploading pictures one at a time. I think it costs a penny a picture to upload multiple pictures at once.

Hope this helps.

Best,

-Jim

o=\o
 
fyi....these are mockups for my ultra-sophisticated :D "hanger flying" test ...the pin is obviously too long
 
Thanks for the good response....but I probably won't have enough people (I need 50) to get the AN bolts made, so here's the "hardware store" recipe for all those who emailed expressing interest in the pedal mods. Cost will be about the same by the time you add in the *#&$#) shipping for a measly few parts..... and best of all I don't have the headache of making them (hooray!!).

Here's the "hardware store" recipe:
2 Grade 8 bolt 1/4-28 x 7.5 in. McMaster-Carr 91257A428 (5 is min order)
1ft. 6061T6 tubing 3/8 x .277i.d. Aircraft Spruce 03-35600
1ft. 6061T6 tubing 1/2 x .377i.d. Aircraft Spruce 03-35900

re-use the original AN310-4 castle nuts from the old inboard clevis bolts.

McMaster doesn't have the proper 1/2in tubing and they only sell in lengths of 3ft or more.

Total will be about $15 for materials ($12 for bolts, $1 ea tube). If you don't have other stuff to order from ACS have them delivered by mail because the shipping will cost more than the tubes!!

If you can only find the 3/8 tube in .245 i.d. it's easy to ream out with at 1/4 drill after you've cut them to length.

you'll need to do the following:
-- drill out the outboard pedal holes to 1/4in. (inners are already 1/4inch)
-- new bolts are mounted from outboard side (nuts on inboard side)...If pedals are installed in fuselage you will need to remove right side foot box panel to get the bolt in
-- place the new bolts in both pedals to make sure there's no interference or binding
-- make sure the bolt ends are at least 1/2 inch apart so they can't hit each other when the pedals are centered ....measure the clearance on Van's installation prior to removing the existing inboard bolts
-- trim the bolt length as needed (appx 7.25 inch) (grind it on Scotchbrite wheel, etc.)
-- drill the bolts for cotter pins (you MUST use castle nuts like Van's)
-- cut tubes into 5 1/4 lengths...fit INSIDE the pedals
-- thoroughly deburr the tube ends -- tubes should slide freely inside each other
-- do NOT tighten the bolts against the pedal ... you DON"T want the pedals to bind in any way :eek: ....bolt should spin freely...you MUST use castle nuts just like the original installation
-- mount and your done.

You can use both tubes or only the smaller tube....see how it feels.

You may want to adjust your pedals for more back-angle to accommodate the change in foot position caused by the bars. I like to have my heels against the lower pivot tubes but it's all a matter of personal preference.

Email me if you have any ?'s.....and let me know how they feel after you have flown with them.

ship
[email protected]
[email protected]
 
true, although the loads applied here are very minimal

Grade 5 is less brittle
McMaster # 91247A042
 
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