S

skidmk

Well Known Member
Okay.. was going to install the rudder stops today... but I can't figure our how to measure the 30-35 degrees of deflection?:confused:

M
 
If your rudder hinge line is straight up and down, you can do this very accurately in just a few seconds.

Drop a plumb bob from the bottom hinge and make a mark on the floor. That's the center of the circle. Then drop it from a convenient point on the rudder and mark it on the floor. That's your starting point. Draw a line from the center to the start point. Draw another line (using a protractor, or some other convenient 30 degree angle) from the center 30 degrees to the first line.

When you move the rudder, the plumb bob will go in an arc around the hinge. When it's over the 2nd line you drew, that's 30 degrees.

As always, it's just how I'd do it. Use at your own risk :D
 
I made a thick cardboard template. First I centered the rudder and cut the template to fit horizontally along the side of the rudder and fuselage for a couple of feet aft of the hinge line. I marked the position of the template on the fuselage and marked the hinge point on the template. Then I cut a 32.5 deg wedge from the template aft of the hinge point. Once the template was taped back on the fuseage the missing wedge area defined the swing arc of the rudder.

I had to reposition the stops vertically because, being a structural engineer, I had aligned the horizontal flange of the stop with the cable figuring that I'd get all the load paths on the cable, rudder horn and stop well aligned. The probelm was that the cable rubbed and fretted on the stop flange on the "slack" side. Some times you can be too clever!

Jim Sharkey
RV6 Tipup O360-A1A
Fixed Sensenich Basic VFR
Working on wiring, cowls, baffles etc
 
Yup....

A friend of mine who has built 6 RV's told me that and that's what I did. I've landed in a 20 MPH crosswind and had enough rudder at full deflection...barely. You'll very seldom use all the deflection and you just don't want the rudder to be able to hit the elevators, even parked, or you'll hole the rudder skin.
Regards,
 
Atten Pierre Smith

pierre smith said:
If it's 1" from the elevator when it's raised, that's OK too.

Regards,
Click to expand...
HI Pierre,, doing this today and wanted to be sure,,,, raise the elevator to full (or close to) up and put the elevator skin 1 inch away? That makes the rudder very close to the elevator when the elevator is neutral (< than an inch)

thanks

Mike
 
Section 8 of Van's RV-7 plans says:

"The proper 35* swing is attained when the clearance between
the inboard trailing edge of the elevator skin is 1 1/8" when
measured perpendicular to the rudder skin with the elevator
in the neutral position."

Tom
 
A word of caution here. Don't rely on 1" clearance to protect the rudder in wind. I can show you many "patches" on rudders that had more clearance. There is a lot more flexibility than you think.
 
Good point Mel, I should have mentioned it.
I noticed that Van's '9' has a slight dent there.
With my rudder stops at an inch, I can push the
rudder quite a bit closer to the elevator just with
my thumb. A gust of wind could make them hit
each other. I try to put the rudder gust lock on
my pedals whenever I get out of the RV.
Tom
 
I can second this statement

I left my new (at the time) 7A tied down for a week at an airport while on business. There was a bit of a thunderstorm roll through one of the days. When I preflighted before I left, there were two triangular shaped tears in the rudder - one on each side. The wind had beat the rudder enough to slam it in to the elevator on both sides, creating a clean hole. With patching, fill and paint - hardly noticable now. I also have a handy little gust lock now too.
 
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