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RV8 - Possible rudder gust lock

Webb

Well Known Member
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Saw this on a picture as I was checking out a really nice cockpit.

Makes sense. Builder said the finished gust lock is to be determined.

Has anyone done this?
 

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Curious. I'd guess that's a stick lock feature connecting the pin just under the stick grip to the pad eyes on the mid cabin braces (?). But attaching the rudder cables to that mid cabin brace is an interesting rudder lock idea.

I have been using slack tie down rope around the rudder horn for most of my -8's life with good success. Simple. Still haven't found anything more effective or light weight.
 
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The reason this is so challenging is that no matter how you do it, there will always be a weak link in your chain of locking.

If you lock the stick/pedals, then the control rods and cables will endure the loads the control surfaces encounter from winds and attempt to pass on into the control system as they are designed to.

If you lock the surfaces, the rods and cables are safe, but now you're locking some fairly fragile aluminum surfaces to nearby surfaces which are only marginally stronger. If the locks on the surfaces are made larger, the loads will be diffused over larger areas, but then you've ended up with larger and perhaps heavier and more cumbersome locking pads.

Now, if only someone would create rotating tie-down pads, so the plane could weathervane into the breeze at all times!
 
My guess if you use the pedals for the lower half and an exterior upper lock for the upper half, you probably would survive almost anything that comes your way.
 
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