Bending control sticks

Hello, a new to me 9a ( partnership) has sticks that can easily come out on purpose. I find that upon landing, my flare puts the stick into my 5 point harness buckle. Has anyone bent the sticks to gain some additional clearance on up elevator?

Thanks.

It might be easier to adjust the elevator push rod ends.

If you do so, be sure to reset any locking devices on the rod ends.

I think you'll find it easier and faster to trim an inch or two from the stick rather than bending it.

I trimmed almost 4" off my sticks to fit the Tosten grips, makes the control force slightly higher but still well under any other aircraft I've flown, and the 9A being non-aerobatic doesn't need much force anyway.

On my -7A (mostly same fuselage as a 9) the right/passenger side control stick is removable, but the pilot side is not. It would require a lot of fastener/spacer removal and replacement in order to bend.

John Tierney said:

On my -7A (mostly same fuselage as a 9) the right/passenger side control stick is removable, but the pilot side is not. It would require a lot of fastener/spacer removal and replacement in order to bend.

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Mine as well - Vans standard stick parts - if the OP has a removeable pilots-side stick, that is definitely non-standard.

airguy said:

I think you'll find it easier and faster to trim an inch or two from the stick rather than bending it.
I trimmed almost 4" off my sticks to fit the Tosten grips, makes the control force slightly higher but still well under any other aircraft I've flown, and the 9A being non-aerobatic doesn't need much force anyway.

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The original poster has trouble with the stick where it hits his belly. Shortening the stick would not help here. I had the same problem with my -6.

Short legs (seat forward) and fat belly make for interference with full back stick. I cut a pie shape out of the forward side of stick at base, bent stick forward and welded. Worked great.

Need additional aft elevator

Hello,

Thank you for the responses. Since we have our first condition inspection coming up this month, I will discuss the option of modifying the elevator linkages to get that extra travel. We have a ton of fwd travel now. Yes I will tighten the Jam nuts or other safety devices to keep them secured.

I am also building an RV-10 so I understand the concept.

Regarding the removable stick, I know I can do it for the right seat. I assumed, but have not confirmed, this can be done for the left seat. I wondered if that was even a safe option.

Thanks everyone.

PS: does anyone have a condition inspection check list?

You can bend the sticks with an appropriate press. First, fill it with packed sand to keep it from kinking. But even first-er, make sure you don’t just move the problem to full forward stick. It shouldn’t hit the panel, nor be able to get caught under the panel.

MElstien said:

PS: does anyone have a condition inspection check list?

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https://www.expaircraft.com/PDFgallery.htm

MElstien said:

Hello, a new to me 9a ( partnership) has sticks that can easily come out on purpose. I find that upon landing, my flare puts the stick into my 5 point harness buckle. Has anyone bent the sticks to gain some additional clearance on up elevator?

Thanks.

Click to expand...

I had the same issue with my 9. I’m short legged so my seat bottom is full forward. What I did was readjust m harness so the buckle is slightly off centered. Problem fixed b

You might want to consider this……. I had the opposite issue with my RV4 - I needed the stick to bend back TOWARD me. I used an RV14 bent stick inserted into and bolted to the cut off stock RV4 stick (one inch diameter). The RV14 stick is 7/8”. The fit was extremely loose, so my friend Bruce Brielmaier turned down a piece of 4130 to fit inside the cut off lower section to make it fit snugly. You could do the same thing, except spin it around so the bend goes forward.







If you make any modifications, make sure the new stick setup clears everything with you in the seat before making any final drilling and attachment.

All pictures are upside down. Sometimes that happens - no idea why.