briand

briand

Well Known Member
Dwg. says 19" max. length. I assume that means from bottom (not pivot point), to the top of my Infinity grip.

Should I cut it so it just clears the inst. panel?
 
Make sure that you have enough clearance so that you won't hit your thumb on the panel if your thumb is on the highest switch on your stick (normally, this is the coolie hat for the trim).
 
Kevin has a very good point, but I am afraid that mine is a little taller than that - it just clears the panel by itself. To be honest, this does make the stick a bit short - I always rest my forearm on my leg, and the stick is just barely sticking above my thigh (I am a very average-proportioned and standard-sized guy).

When you're building, and don't have any finished upholstery, it is kind of hard to guess how the cockpit is going to finally fit. Another thing that you don't have a feel for is how far forward the stick will be in level flight. I have often wondered (since have been flying) if the "clearance under the panel" makes any difference at all - if you pushed the stick forward enough to contact the panel, you'd probably push about -5 G's. I have never had to move the stick that far forward in any phase of flight.

Now I'm not telling folks to leave their sticks long and bump into the panel....I'm just making the observation that I have thought about it....

Paul
 
I have the infinity grip and one of those bent sticks. The coolie hat clears the bottom of the panel by about 1/16", maybe a tad more. With the bent stick and the infinity grip, that's about as good as you can get.
I haven't had any problems. I doubt that you would ever need your thumb on the coolie hat when the stick is near the panel....at least in normal flight. At least I haven't
 
stick grip

How Timely!
On the 2 RV8's I'm working on I just finished the second Infinity grip in the last week.
Measuring with a ruler placed on top of the bushing boss I get 8 and 3/8 inches to the bottom of the grip. Add 2 and 1/8 inches inside the grip and you get 10 and 1/2 inches total length.
This gives me 1/8 inch clearance at the forward gear box brace.
The top of the grip can clear the panel but as it tilts forward the coolie hat then comes into play instead of the main grip. (on the fwd. brace)
I had to put the tail back on and the elevators to check to see if it would clear at the fwd. stop. It didn't, so I had to shorten the stick some more.
I have both a straight stick and a bent stick. 10 1/2 inches is a good number for both!!!!
 
8CW said:
What is the preference on an 8? Straight stick or bent?
Click to expand...

I went with the bent stick because when I mounted the straight one, it just seemed a little far forward for my taste. Of course, it was a leap of faith because at the time, I had no flight cushions or anything....bu it has worked out well for me. I still have the straight stick, because when Todd was bending them, I got late on one of his deadlines and just had Van's drop ship a new one to him, so I do have both. Have never flown with the straight one.

Paul
 
What about on the ground in windy conditions? Should not full travel to the elevator stop(s), be the condition you must allow for? In the air (8KCAB) I ran out of arm length before, I reached full travel (forward) with locked harness. On the ground every once in a while, the full travel came in handy in the wind. I cringe at the thought a propstrike.
H
 
Bent

8CW said:
What is the preference on an 8? Straight stick or bent?
Click to expand...

Unless you have very long arms, even the bent one isn't quite far aft enough IMHO. Van could have done a better job on ergonomics with regard the forward stick in the -8. The aft stick is pretty good though.

Since Todd is no longer bending sticks, not sure who else to refer to, but IMHO, it was a necessary change. You could certainly fly with the stock stick, but for the average guy it probably is a bit too far forward and awkward.

I actually lowered my seat cushion by 1.5" from the standard Oregon Aero sizing so that I could get just a little more reach on the stick. I sacraficed some forward visibility for more stick comfort. That really helped a bit. Since I'm a biplane guy what do I know about forward visibility anyway? I still have good viz in wheel landings and reasonable viz in 3 point.
 
Agreed, but...

Howie said:
What about on the ground in windy conditions? Should not full travel to the elevator stop(s), be the condition you must allow for? In the air (8KCAB) I ran out of arm length before, I reached full travel (forward) with locked harness. On the ground every once in a while, the full travel came in handy in the wind. I cringe at the thought a propstrike.
H
Click to expand...

Agree that is what you should try for - and I have full forward if needed. In fact the DAR might not like it if you bang up against a panel or the forward brace (between the gear towers). But just FYI, I have never used FFW stick yet in 260 hours of landings... At least not that I can think of. The -8 elevator is pretty darn powerful, much more so than the 8KCAB Super D.
 
Rob-
Sorry, I wasn't clear. I was trying to say, that now and then I needed full forward, when traversing the airport, in a long downwind taxi. I usually didn't have a problem until the wind was channeled by hangers onto the taxiway and the airplanes tail got light. Then I needed all I had to keep the prop out of the asphalt.
In the air, I never used that much travel.
H
 
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