A

AllanB

Member
G'day from down here;
I have a problem with two areas of the right elevator.
1). with the rod-end bearings seated with 1 1/2 threads clear I have about 1/4" or so of leading edge overlap at the counterbalance horn leading edge. ie the elevator projects in front of the horizontal stab. leading edge. By just seating the rod-end in the riv-nut the leading edge is ok.
2). at the other end (control rod bearing) I have conflict with the round stock and the location to drill for the carry through bolt to the bearing on the h/s spar. Again, an extra 1/4" of thread on the rod-end bearing would solve the problem.
The dimensions check with the drawings, indeed the rod end bearing in the full scale drawing is the lenght I require, not the length of the rod-end with the kit.(but there is no longer threaded item unless you go up in all dimensions!) clearance elsewhere seems not to be a problem, even if I adjust the counterbalance length with a slight rebuild I still have the problem with the control rod end of the job.
Any and all illuminating comments welcome.
I'm sick of putting it together and scratching my head so I havn't any photos to show, I'm moving on to the left elevator to keep sane, regards, AB. :confused: :confused:
 
The leading edge skin that you talk about must be trimmed to give you the proper clearances called out in the manual.
 
Yes, yes it does...

>>>ie the elevator projects in front of the horizontal stab

All RV-4 elevators project slightly ahead of the HS. I doubt it was intentional. But the parts just consistently end up that way. Take a look at any picture of an RV-4 and you'll see what I mean.

Good luck

John
 
Allan,

I solved this problem by substituting a HEIM 3616 bearing in place of the 3614 bearing I think the plans call for. The 3616 is about a half inch (?) longer, but you have to be careful, because the "head" around the bearing is a little bit wider, if that makes sense.

By using a longer bearing, I was able to thread it in long enough for my comfort level and still have the elevator "back" a quarter of an inch so every thing lines up.
 
Rick,
That's one of the fixes I had in mind, good to know it will work; now to get the rod ends! With a lot more filing and fiddling about I have almost solved the problem, except for the l/e overlap.
Thanks to everyone for the responses. Allan. :)
 
Trial & Error


I got mine to fit perfectly by positioning the CW skin on the rib with the elevator installed on the HS before I closed it up. I put protective aluminum tape on the HS trailing edge, then put the elevator LE skins on it.
 
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