RV-12 Vernier throttle - what to do if the guts fall out

[Dgamble]

In an act of almost incomprehensible foolishness, I managed to violate the prime edict of MacFarlane: "Thou shalt not pull the cables too far out lest ye be smited with a plague of tiny little parts."

Six tiny little roller bearings, as it turns out.

Fortunately, you won't be the first to do it, and nor was I. An extremely helpful guy named Ben quickly replied to my desperate, plaintive plea for help (it was email, so tears would have been useless) to assure me that the repair is quite simple. He also shared with me that he had done exactly the same thing on his first day working there.

It is apparently so common that they created a how-to video and put it on YouTube a couple of weeks ago:

https://youtu.be/5RcjEd7lR4Q

[tomkk]

Seemed a lot harder a year ago when I accidentally pulled mine out too far. Managed to get it back together after quite a bit of head scratching but wish I'd had the video ...

[Dvalcik]

I had a fellow RVr looking at mine 3 1/2 years ago, I won't mention his name, but he just flew the newest RV8 @ KPTW. He pulled it too far and you know the rest. I called McFarlane and they fixed it at no cost. I did buy it from McFarlane directly, at that time Van's was not selling them.

Dave give them a call;
866-920-2741 (U.S. and Canada)
785-594-2741 (Phone)

[smoothy58]

Been there, done that......followed the you tube video and all is well.

A secondary benefit is you now have an understanding of how elegant the McFarlane vernier system is....:-)


Gerry Peterson
Merritt Island, Fl

[Tony_T]

Me too. Was too mortified to admit it in the forum or even call McFarlane. Was able to find the parts that went flying and got it back together. The video would have been a godsend.

[rgmwa]

Count me in. Got it back together eventually.

[Bill Boyd]

... and they'll let you fly in a formation clinic.

[Gandalf]

After kicking myself for loosing the bearings, I called McFarlane Aviation. A nice lady answered and sent me six new bearings at no charge. After watching the video, I was able to insert the six bearings.

Big Thumbs Up to McFarlane Aviation.

Jeff

[AirHound]

Originally Posted by Tony_T

Me too. Was too mortified to admit it in the forum or even call McFarlane. Was able to find the parts that went flying and got it back together. The video would have been a godsend.

I have one on a 12 I did not build. Please tell me what kind of situation causes the pieces to fly? So I can hopefully avoid a problem.

Thank you,
Doug in IL

[Tony_T]

Originally Posted by AirHound

I have one on a 12 I did not build. Please tell me what kind of situation causes the pieces to fly? So I can hopefully avoid a problem.

Thank you,
Doug in IL

If the cables are not connected to the carbs it is possible to pull the knob out too far and that's when it comes apart. So, if you disconnect the throttle cables from the carbs just resist the impulse to pull out the knob Some of us were not able to resist even though the installation instructions specifically caution against doing so.