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gpiney

Well Known Member
Before I rivet up the skins on the fuse, I decided to do a preliminary 'test fit' of the Ground Adjustable rudder pedals on my -1 fuse. It appears that the plans sent with the kit are for the older fuse kit. Using the references and measurements on the plans, the 'existing' rivet holes do not match the holes in my -1 fuse. If the pedals are placed properly to plans, they cover all the existing holes. The problem is that I would end up drilling holes too close to the existing holes, possibly partially drilling through the 'existing' rivet. And the existing holes could not be used 'as is' because they are not centered on the new rails. Understand? Has anyone with a slo-build -1 fuse installed the ground adjustable pedals? Got Pics? Is there a new version of the plans? Does Vans have a mod I don't know about?
I am beginning to wonder if I should just bite the bullet and order the in-flight adjustable. Since I am 6'3+" I felt the pedals would always be at the firewall.
 
I'm 6'2" and the pedals are a long way from the firewall. Also once I saw the "ground adjustable pedals" I realized what would be involved in adjusting them, I went and got the inflight ones - a far nicer, better engineered setup in my opinion.

Chris
 
Ground adjustable pedals

Greg,

We had the same problem with our slo-build -1 fuse. The forward and aft holes in the rudder pedal rails partially overlapped the existing holes in the fuselage.

After realising what would be involved to adjust the pedals on the ground we also decided to go for the in-flight ones. I agree with Chris that this is a much better setup.
 
All that Andre said, plus:
On long flights you may want to move the rudder pedals a few times to let your legs relax.
 
I'm 6' 4" with 35" inseam and need the pedals full forward all of the time. But, when I sell the plane the next pilot may not be that tall and may need to adjust them. And what if the next owner is actually 'owners', a partnership, and the pedals need to be adjusted a lot? The capability to easily change the pedal position is very desirable, even if for now the plane will always be flown by the same pilot. In flight adjustable pedals don't add much weight and are a really nice feature in my opinion. Actually, I didn't build my -8, but did buy a previously flying but currently disassembled -8 and did a LOT of work and modifications to it before I got it flying again (I estimate I have around 700 hours of time invested so far, and I ain't finished yet....). An airplane with the in flight adjustable pedals was high on my list of what I wanted in a previously owned airplane. YMMV
 
Talked to Ken at Vans

I finally contacted Ken at Vans today about the ground adjustable pedals.
Apparently, I was the first to complain about this.

Ken feels that it will be OK to leave out the 4 rivets in question and just put the 12 rivets in the floor. The rails will be more than secure. If one of the 2 'existing' holes lines up well enough I should match drill it and rivet it.
He also suggested I maybe add 1-2 rivets to the rails (smaller spacing).

He said he would have someone look into this and possibly revise the plans/instructions to reflect the -1 fuse.

Build On.
 
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