Greg Arehart
Well Known Member
I guess imageshack has deleted these photos, so if you come across this thread and want the documentation with pictures, just send me a pm or email. Learned this as of 1/8/2016.
My wife (also a pilot and riveter etc.) is short enough (5’-0”) that she has a difficult time reaching the rudder pedals since they are set up primarily for me. I’ve looked a lot for some fix that is not permanent, and includes control for both rudder and brakes. So after some experimenting, I came up with the following solution. Total cost is about $15. They are removable in just a few minutes, and can be built for any extension (mine are about 2 inches). Not very fancy, but does the job.
Here’s the finished product. The pedals themselves are 5.25” x 4.” The tubing is standard Schedule 40 PVC, ½” diameter, along with some standard elbows and Ts. The tubing ID is almost exactly the OD of the rudder weldment, and snaps on.
Side view, looking parallel to the rudder pedal. This is the part that snaps onto the R rudder, on the R side of the pedal. Note that the split tubing snaps over the weldment tubing. Total length is 5 inches for the section that snaps onto the weldment. It is cut at an angle so that it doesn’t interfere with the existing brake pedal. I had to drill out the stops in the PVC Ts so that the tubing would go completely through rather than hit the stops. Even though it snaps nicely onto the rudder weldment, a hose clamp will assure that it stays there. I put one on the side piece and one on the bottom piece.
Here’s the bottom piece. Same basic construction. The split tube will snap onto the bottom of the rudder weldment. The upper right portion of this tube fits into the elbow on the vertical piece. I did not weld this joint so that the pieces come apart relatively easily, and it allows for minor adjustments during installation.
This is the bottom “bearing” Al tube that slides over the complete PVC tube in the previous photo. It is screwed onto a hinge piece using a couple of 6-32 screws. Eventually I might add some JB weld or such between the tube and hinge piece.
Photo of the assembled rudder portion of the system (temporarily assembled). The vertical part of the assembly is from the second photo, and the bottom portion from the third photo. This photo shows the “bearing” for the brake portion of the pedal in place on the PVC. (extra holes in the hinge are because I’m cheap and used an old piece of hinge from another project!)
Assembled brake portion of the pedal (R pedal). The pedal itself is a piece of 1/8-inch Al stock and is riveted to the various hinge pieces. The plate on the L is just 0.063 Al. One could add some reinforcement, but it seems pretty robust as is.
Hinges are all kept in place using a small hole and piece of safety wire through the hinge eyes at either end, except the center hinge, which is removable for when I want to take the pedals off.
Side view of the assembly. The lower leftmost hinge piece will be bolted to the original brake pedals (bolted so its removable – if I was not doing this while under the panel, I would probably put nutplates on the original brake pedals). I put holes in the ends of the PVC pieces (right side in this view) so that I can put a threaded rod through the assembly to hold it together (probably unnecessary, but allows the parts to come apart easily for removal).
Top view of the assembly. Note the angle of the cut on the PVC tubing. This is necessary to provide clearance for the original brake pedal. The bottom hinge in this photo will bolt onto the face of the original brake pedal.
So, there you have it! The L pedal is essentially a mirror image of the R pedal. If you build your own, be careful with the clearances all around so that nothing ends up binding. Note on the first photo that there is a screw in each pedal – this keeps the “bearing” Al tube from going over center forward.
I have NOT tested these in flight yet, but plan to do so the next opportunity. Then I’ll clean them up and make them look a bit nicer.
greg
My wife (also a pilot and riveter etc.) is short enough (5’-0”) that she has a difficult time reaching the rudder pedals since they are set up primarily for me. I’ve looked a lot for some fix that is not permanent, and includes control for both rudder and brakes. So after some experimenting, I came up with the following solution. Total cost is about $15. They are removable in just a few minutes, and can be built for any extension (mine are about 2 inches). Not very fancy, but does the job.
Here’s the finished product. The pedals themselves are 5.25” x 4.” The tubing is standard Schedule 40 PVC, ½” diameter, along with some standard elbows and Ts. The tubing ID is almost exactly the OD of the rudder weldment, and snaps on.
Side view, looking parallel to the rudder pedal. This is the part that snaps onto the R rudder, on the R side of the pedal. Note that the split tubing snaps over the weldment tubing. Total length is 5 inches for the section that snaps onto the weldment. It is cut at an angle so that it doesn’t interfere with the existing brake pedal. I had to drill out the stops in the PVC Ts so that the tubing would go completely through rather than hit the stops. Even though it snaps nicely onto the rudder weldment, a hose clamp will assure that it stays there. I put one on the side piece and one on the bottom piece.
Here’s the bottom piece. Same basic construction. The split tube will snap onto the bottom of the rudder weldment. The upper right portion of this tube fits into the elbow on the vertical piece. I did not weld this joint so that the pieces come apart relatively easily, and it allows for minor adjustments during installation.
This is the bottom “bearing” Al tube that slides over the complete PVC tube in the previous photo. It is screwed onto a hinge piece using a couple of 6-32 screws. Eventually I might add some JB weld or such between the tube and hinge piece.
Photo of the assembled rudder portion of the system (temporarily assembled). The vertical part of the assembly is from the second photo, and the bottom portion from the third photo. This photo shows the “bearing” for the brake portion of the pedal in place on the PVC. (extra holes in the hinge are because I’m cheap and used an old piece of hinge from another project!)
Assembled brake portion of the pedal (R pedal). The pedal itself is a piece of 1/8-inch Al stock and is riveted to the various hinge pieces. The plate on the L is just 0.063 Al. One could add some reinforcement, but it seems pretty robust as is.
Hinges are all kept in place using a small hole and piece of safety wire through the hinge eyes at either end, except the center hinge, which is removable for when I want to take the pedals off.
Side view of the assembly. The lower leftmost hinge piece will be bolted to the original brake pedals (bolted so its removable – if I was not doing this while under the panel, I would probably put nutplates on the original brake pedals). I put holes in the ends of the PVC pieces (right side in this view) so that I can put a threaded rod through the assembly to hold it together (probably unnecessary, but allows the parts to come apart easily for removal).
Top view of the assembly. Note the angle of the cut on the PVC tubing. This is necessary to provide clearance for the original brake pedal. The bottom hinge in this photo will bolt onto the face of the original brake pedal.
So, there you have it! The L pedal is essentially a mirror image of the R pedal. If you build your own, be careful with the clearances all around so that nothing ends up binding. Note on the first photo that there is a screw in each pedal – this keeps the “bearing” Al tube from going over center forward.
I have NOT tested these in flight yet, but plan to do so the next opportunity. Then I’ll clean them up and make them look a bit nicer.
greg
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