OK, so it has been a few months since getting the airplane in the air, and I needed something to do with the scrap material in my shop so... I put together a simple gust lock for my elevator that is easy to make and easy to carry, plus works great. Below are some images. Basically, it consists of a piece of 063 x 1-1/4 Al with a few pieces of 063 angle or bent 063 material riveted or screwed to the strap.
Here is a photo of the original material before riveting - several pieces of either bent 063 or angle plus a couple pieces of leftover piano hinge (I used a single piece of Al pin bent around through both hinges):
And here it is in place on my R elevator/HS. It slides into the gap between the elevator and HS:
I dipped the stuff in that plastic dip to prevent damage to the paint job (eventually I will get this airplane painted!). Here's the bottom of the bracket, custom bent to fit my installation (note that the angles are not quite 90 degrees):
And here is the top of the bracket. The thumbscrews are tapped into some 1/8-inch angle and tighten down against a couple of pieces of leftover hinge material. The straight piece (R side of photo) slips between the elevator and HS to keep the whole thing from vibrating off.
When this thing is tightened down, it really holds the elevator in place well. I'm sure there could be some additional modifications/simplifications made, but I'm happy with the result so far.
greg
Tip: Elevator gust lock
Linear Mode
