Servos in wing or fuselage?

[pierre smith]

Mornin' all,
It's annual time for the -6A and I'm going to install a Trutrak. A friend says that Trutrak shows the aileron servo mounted in the outer bay, under the pilot side floorskins.

He says that it's more convenient to fab a pushrod and mount the servo on the last rib of the wing.

What say you guys?

Thanks,

[flion]

My Blue Mountain servo is mounted under the seat ribs; the pushrod runs right to left across the cockpit (long run to minimize deflection as the stick moves fore/aft). I could have used a more direct setup in the wing if I hadn't already built them, but I didn't want to get into the hassle of retrofitting a servo into the middle where the bellcrank is. But that's not much help for your question. It was a pain mounting the servo under the seat ribs (my pans are riveted, not screwed) but I felt it would be even more difficult to get it into the wing - there's not much room to work there unless you remove the wing. If I was building a -7 instead of a -6, I would have been tempted to put it in the wing.

[L.Adamson]

I preferred the wing & pushrod method, as that's what I did. Mine's the Trio with the servo mounted on the outside of the last rib in the tip, but the servo in the last bay is a great way to do it. I once tried to locate it by the inspection panel, but it was much to difficult in a finished 6's wing. Note: I also have a plexiglass pushrod guide in the next to the last rib, in case the pushrod ever becomes disconnected for some reason.

L.Adamson --- RV6A

[gereed75]

Pierre Mine is mounted as described by Tru Trak - under the pilots floor boards. I recently had to remove the cable plug to switch the wires. It was impossible to get to the connector screws and I ended up having to cut an access panel. A major PITA.

I suggest the right wing tip, mounted as shown by Sam Buchannon. Not only would it be easy access, but the weight far out in the right wing would help offset the constant weight of the left sitting pilot.

[Mel]

Originally Posted by pierre smith

He says that it's more convenient to fab a pushrod and mount the servo on the last rib of the wing.

I pull out my floor pans once a year for condition inspection. My wing-tips are riveted on and haven't been off in almost 16 years. Nothing in there to inspect.

[pierre smith]

.....Mel, and little tork screws, so it shouldn't be a big deal to remove a wingtip. This is it's third annual/condition inspection and we haven't had any reason to remove wingtips either.

Thanks,

[RV7Guy]

Hi Pierre,

I mounted mine is the fuselage. Very simple install. I did make a plate that I installed on the bottom of the fuselage for reinforcement. If a need to remove the servo came to pass, it would be easy to remove.

Short push rod, shorter wiring run and quick installation. Can't beat that.

[N941WR]

Pierre (and others),

Having installed the Dynon AP this past summer in my -9 (It installs just like the TT), I was surprised to find that the installation is completly different from the -6.

Is there any chance you can install the -6 roll servo similar to either the -9 or -7? It was very easy to do and didn't require riveting any type of braces up in the wing and was very easy to do from the wing inspection panel.

Pierre, one minor piece of advice for you; I found running the wire out the wing a real PITA and I even installed Van's conduit when I built up my wing. That alone would move me towards the under floor location for your roll servo.

[N55CU]

I put mine in the right wing at the inspection plate as it was easier to install and to inspect. Now if you can just the wire to it!!
Randy Utsey
RV-7 / 155 hrs
N55CU
Charlotte, N.C.

[SteinAir]

Pierre, For retrofitting a flying -6, the floorboards are you only real option. Unlike the other RV's with a pile of inspection holes, the singular wing inspection hole combined with difficult access to the bellcrank just make putting it in the fuse a lot easier. I'm not a fan of a long pushrod going all the way from the wingup to the bellcrank, and I'd surely rather have that 2 lbs under my seat than hanging off a wingtip.

Put it in the floor as suggested and be done with it! Been there done that.

My 2 cents as usual.

Cheers,
Stein

BTW, for you -7/8/9/10 builders, the 3/4/6 bellcrank setup is entirely and completely different....retrofitting into a flying 7 in the wing is quite easy compared to a -6....wings are a LOT different.