New Service Bulletin Issued (all models except RV-3)

[DeltaRomeo]

re: Affixing the passenger control stick permanently.

http://www.vansaircraft.com/pdf/sb07-2-6.pdf

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From the PDF file:

[frankh]

A certain CFII friend of mine rolled my airplane inverted (all legal) after i had told him the stick came out...He was even waving it about as we taxi'd and jokingly threated to hit me with it as an IFR student encouragement device..Ha ha yes funny.

After get bored we do a few rolls no biggie, except on his third roll he stopped inverted...Of course I had forgotten to tighten my shoulder straps and "bonk!" I hit my head on the canopy.

So there we are testing out the inverted fuel and oil systems, me rubbing my head and him trying to jam the stick back in. I guess he though I'd get a clue that no one was actually flying the airplane at this point...

"Er...Your airplane"...

Frank

I like to remove my stick when I fly alone. I have a clip for it on the rear baggage compartment. I tapped the passenger stick for a 8-32 thumb screw and drilled the stick holder to accommodate the thumb screw. Holds the stick firm and yet easy to remove.

I'm not keen on having to bolt it in...

[Kyle Boatright]

Plenty of us use cotterless hitch pins to hold the stick in place.

That's a pin with a ring on one end and a spring loaded ball on the other end. With a big enough push or pull on the ring, you can force the pin (and spring loaded ball) though holes drilled in the stick, and it'll stay there until you decide to remove it...

I usually leave the stick stowed between the seats. Non-flying passengers appreciate the extra wiggle room.

[Ironflight]

My rear stick is secured with a PIP pin - it takes a push of the button and a pull of the pin to remove it - two distinct actions. Same thing thing used all over the place in things like the Space Shuttle. (In fact, exactly like ones used all over in the Space Shuttle... )

Paul

[Brian Denk]

The back seat stick in my -8 is a PITA for pax egress and impossible to fit my son's car seat with it installed. Thus, it shall remain not installed. Additionally, a permanently bolted-in-place, ham-fisted spam driver pax wing removal lever is not my cup 'o tea.

I think this bulletin is more applicable for the SBS RV's, where landing ops can (and quite often are) done from either seat. Not so in a -4 or -8 with no pedals, brakes or throttle. But really, BOLTING it in? Hitch pin or ball detent makes a lot more sense so you can still remove it without getting out the tool bag.

[airguy]

Makes more sense, yes - but having a permanent solution insulates Van from the lawyer-happy crowd. If someone has a spring-loaded pin or some such similar device and it fails, the stick comes out and causes a problem or a crash, Van gets to shrug his shoulders and point to this diagram.

One word - Experimental. Build it your way.

[Dgamble]

Originally Posted by airguy

One word - Experimental. Build it your way.

This one is described (at least in the topic subject) as a service bulletin. SBs are essentially optional even for certificated airplanes.

[mark manda]

I need to comply because I worry about it in my 7A.

I fly it right seat regularly just to get a feel for it and if my passenger is a pilot, they like to fly left seat.

But, DanC warned me about sticks coming out, right now it's jammed in tight and electrical taped. I have a cannon plug and six or eight wires so I'm not sure a -4 or -5 bolt will work. I was thinking set screw, hood pin thingy, or I like the hitchpins.

Also, I removed my right stick boot along with the right control stick for the passenger one time.

I didn't leave the leather boot there so the assy was open and exposed.

When I went to do a preflight I had very little up and down. I found her headset's ANR box down in there partly hindering the controls. I'm glad I didn't yank too hard and break the battery box on the headset. Or take off....

[Chris RV6-A]

Had this problem with my RV6A. My wife was taking landing lessons in the right hand seat with the CFI in the left. Fortunately her stick did not come loose during landing or take off!
Fixed it almost the same way as Van's suggested.

Chris
RV6A
N613LE