Nope, but an alternative:

Bend a piece of 1/8" welding rod into a C shape, about 2" by 3" by 2". Use a hinge eyelet to hang a remove before flight flag. Then insert this in holes in the rudder stop and rudder horn.

I'd post a picture but I'm at work - many RV builders use this super light robust solution. Perhaps someone else has a photo handy.
 
kevinh said:
Bend a piece of 1/8" welding rod into a C shape, about 2" by 3" by 2". Use a hinge eyelet to hang a remove before flight flag. Then insert this in holes in the rudder stop and rudder horn.
Click to expand...

That was what I have. My 1/8" rod was bent last May by a strong gust. Now I am using a 3/16" rod. Since the rod holds the bottom of the rudder to the fuselage the wind gust can produce a twisting force to the rudder. My rudder trailing edge rivets were not set properly (not enough shop head). The ones on the bottom got pulled out of the skin. What I am thinking is to secure both the top and the bottom of the rudder. It might be an overkill but after a bad experience one tends to be more curious.

My rudder damage writeup.
 
I avoid external gust locks

People have died after forgetting to remove them.

Seat belt around the stick and a PVC assembly from the front seat to the rudder pedals.
 
To each his own of course, but I just cant envision myself forgetting to remove the well marked gust locks, forgetting to check movement of my control surfaces, and forgetting to use my checklist all at one time - just not how I prepare to fly.

I got tired of using my seatbelt around the stick for an aileron / elevator gust lock (seat belt had to be adjusted every time I flew) and made my own exterior gust locks. I havent seen the Air Gizmos thing before, but the one I made for the elevator appears to work much the same way. From scrap, I fashioned two aluminum plates as stops for the top and bottom sides, then cut up a tie-down strap to use between the two stops - This passes through the gap between the elevator counter weight arm and the horzontal stabilizer. A buckle similar to that shown in the to an appropraite length allows you to cinch down the system to lock it in place. Some rubber gasket material glued on on the aluminum plates protects your paint. Sorry, no picture available, but if you get a buckled tie-down strap and stare at the air gizmo picture, the you should get the idea.

For the ailerons, a thumb screw with a a couple of fender washers, two rubber washers for paint protection, and a wing nut works great. Depending upon the exact gap between your wing tip and the aileron, you may have to grind down the threads a little on the thumb screw where it passes through the gap.

erich
 
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I have two -- one for ailerons and one for elevators -- and really like them. Very good materials, construction, etc. I have a 7A and I don't think the air gizmos will work for the rudder except at the very top and I can't reach that. I fabricated a sturdier version of the usual RV rudder stop lock.
 
Erich, that is how people die with them. They skip everything you mentioned. Can you imagine flying into a severe thunderstorm type system when the weather is clear around it? Me either yet someone did just that a few months ago at LOE.
 
Believe it or not!

Ron Lee said:
People have died after forgetting to remove them.

Seat belt around the stick and a PVC assembly from the front seat to the rudder pedals.
Click to expand...

People have also died on take off with the seat belt tied around the control yoke. IT CAN HAPPEN!
Some people can ignore anything.
 
People have gotten themselves killed by not removing the *Piper* gust lock that goes in the control column right in front of them, too...

I like the looks of those gust locks, at least for aileron and elevator...and if one preflights well, uses a checklist correctly, and checks all control surface movement freedom (or any ONE of these), none of these type of accidents would ever happen, regardless of style of gust lock.

If someone is going to skip steps, do a sloppy preflight, and fail to check their control surface movement, no amount of idiot-proofing will save them from themselves.

That said...if there's a nice-looking gust lock that goes inside the cockpit, I think that'd be preferable because it would enable locking all of them in one location, rigidly, via the control rods and cables rather than on the surfaces themselves.
 
I think the other argument against the internal gust locks that has previoiusly been stated in other threads is that if there is any play in the linkage, there could still be some wear damage - i.e., it may not do as good a job of fixing the control surfaces in place. For me, I just like having the seatbelt perfectly adjusted when I get in the plane.

I implore you to string me up in Times Square as a complete idiot if I die because I didnt remove my gust lock.

regards

erich
 
Diamond Star version?

A Diamond Star DA-40 I used to fly had a pretty neat, light and compact internal control lock that locked the stick to the rudder pedals, and was tied with straps to the left and right lower corners of the instrument panel. Wondering if anybody has made or adapted something like that for a side-by-side RV?

--Paul
 
Just another reason to build a trail dragger!

The tail wheel pin locks the rudder in place and you just use the seatbelt on the pilots seat only. If you want to sit down, the seatbelt has to be released and the tail/rudder takes care of itself.
 
AirGizmo Control Locks

I used these last year at Oshkosh on a Piper Archer II. I tried them in all 3 places (ailerons, HS and rudder). For the rudder, I had to dissasemble the lock and feed the webbing through, then reassemble. I wanted to secure the rudder more in the middle than at the top, to avoid the excessive twisting mentioned elsewere in this thread. It did work and worked nicely.

I like the locks because there is no metal anywhere that can damage my paint.

Having said all of that, it was a bit of a hassle, despite taking only a couple of minutes. If I were having to do this every day and multiple times per day, I don't think I would be happy with it. Also, I needed 3, but AirGizmo was only selling them in pairs. No amount of talking to them would result in them breaking their policy. However, I notice on their site now, that they do sell them individually now. No accounting for good (or bad) sales policies!
 
I'm for gust-locks.

While serving time as lineboy at a medium density airport I can vividly recall what gusty winds and prop blasts did to control surfaces and linkages.

I'm also for careful, uninterrupted pre-flight inspection and whenever interrupted, I growl a bit and go back to item #1 on the list.

Cold weather = fewer 'interruptions' as the babes are wrapped a bit tighter.:D

BTW, thanks for the AirGizmo lead, I'll be checking them out.
 
I had a gust lock made and considered marketing it. It locks the ailerons, rudder and elevator. It is a fairly simple stick with saddles on the front to grab the rudder pedals and a half-tube on the back that the stick slips into. Works well and since it locks the rudder pedals, I think it would be very hard to ignore on taxi. Besides, it is right between your knees. I am trying to modify it to double as a tow bar for the "A" models. Haven't worked on it for a while as I am trying to finish "Broken Wings--The Rise and Fall of the Greatest Air Armada," my first aviation book.

Bob Kelly
 
Got Photos?

videobobk said:
I had a gust lock made and considered marketing it. It locks the ailerons, rudder and elevator. It is a fairly simple stick with saddles on the front to grab the rudder pedals and a half-tube on the back that the stick slips into..........
Bob Kelly
Click to expand...

Can you post a photo or three? :)
 
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