Long arms and control grip questions

[gerrychuck]

I now have 7 wonderful hours in my 6A, and find myself generally quite comfortable in it despite my 6'4" frame. There is, however, one exception: I have very long arms/forearms and find that when the stick is back and the nose up (on approach, basically), my elbow jams against the side panel and limits my ability to quickly and smoothly apply left aileron as I encounter gusts. My current grip is a MAC/Ray Allen model with 2 axis trim, ptt, and autopilot disconnect. The Ray Allen is, of course, a "straight" grip without and forward or backward tilt, etc.

I have 2 questions: 1st, has anyone else with monkey arms like mine tried using one of the angled grips like the Infinity or Tosten? These appear like they would provide a bit more elbow room by moving the grip point forward a bit, and it also appears that this effect can be magnified some by rotating the grip as well.

2nd question: How difficult would it be to convert from the Ray Allen to one of the other grips in terms of rewiring?

Thanks in advance, and I'm certainly open to other suggestions or ideas as well

[Geico266]

There is a city named Moose Jaw? Was Moose Lips taken?

Seriously, if you need to modify the stick and grips to suit your "arms" anything you do would be fairly easy. Just cutting, fitting, and soldering. Can't be the first time you had to modify something.

[aerhed]

Moose Jaw, Medicine hat, Smashed in Head Buffalo Jump. They got all the cool names.

[gerrychuck]

Originally Posted by aerhed

Moose Jaw, Medicine hat, Smashed in Head Buffalo Jump. They got all the cool names.

Actually, it's "Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump"; I used to live right near there too Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming....

[pierre smith]

I have rather long arms from swinging in the trees looking for bananas in South Africa...growing up there....but seriously,

You'll figure it out in time, as I have...just use wrist action to complete the flair if your elbow is against the side, or move a little toward the center during landings.

Best,

[gerrychuck]

Thanks, Pierre I've already mostly adjusted to it, but wondering if a grip change would improve things further.

By the way, I've had the opportunity to meet and work with a lot of South African expats; I work in the medical field and we import a lot of doctors from SA in my part of the world

[Jamie]

Are you sure your sticks are rigged properly?

I can't tell you the number of times I have seen sticks on the side-by-side RVs mounted completely vertical when the elevators are neutral. I'm not certain on the -6, but on the -7 the sticks are supposed to be centered over the spar carry-through when the elevators are neutral.

[gerrychuck]

Originally Posted by Jamie

Are you sure your sticks are rigged properly?

I can't tell you the number of times I have seen sticks on the side-by-side RVs mounted completely vertical when the elevators are neutral. I'm not certain on the -6, but on the -7 the sticks are supposed to be centered over the spar carry-through when the elevators are neutral.

I will check that out; I think my sticks are pretty much vertical with neutral elevator. Thanks very much for the tip; not being a builder my learning curve on how things 'should' be is quite steep. Much appreciated.

[gerrychuck]

Checked the rigging of the stick; dead vertical with neutral elevator BUT; that is also the midpoint of the travel; if rigged so the grip is over the spar carrythrough, the stick would be banging on the forward stop, so I think it's rigged the way its supposed to be. Back to square 1 I guess!

[hydroguy2]

my elbow jams against the side panel and limits my ability

this was a major factor in my decision to go with left hand throttle and using my right arm for the stick.