Stick Grip Wiring(Aug, 29th, 2004)

This is the routing of the wires. Five wires altogether, three for the twim-switch (the right/left trim contacts are not used), two for the transmit switch.

The wires run in a high-pressure pneumatic tube (6mm OD, 4mm ID). The curves were made by using a hot-air gun. The bending moment on the tube is very small, so this arrangement should last a while until it is worn.

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Stick Grip (Aug, 27th, 2004)

Bought this super-de-luxe teakwood stickgrip lately. However for this endless, X-contry trips I need a handrest ;-))

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The handrest is made of a scrap piece of German oak. The colour fits nicely the grips'.

Stick assembled (the bore had to be opened a bit because of the tick powder coating on the stick tube).

There's a mike button to the right and a 4-way cooly-hat at left. I'll use only the forward/back switch for the electric elevator trim. The stick is for left-handers and fits smoothly in my fist. Actually I'm right-handed but I have better things to do with the right hand than holding the stick in place :-) All controls are located at the center section of the instrument panel (no brake/trim/elevator levers at the left sidewall for my bird).

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Fixin' the Stick/Horn Wiggle (Aug, 14th, 2004)

I made some liners from a root-beer can (not my favourite drink). After some sanding I got a thickness of 0.07mm of the tim foil. This wrapped around the control horn tube was just enough to provide a very tight fit.

The stick to horn bolting now with wedge-shaped spacers

Another small problem was the rod linkage of right and left control stick. Bolted on on one side, the opposite side met very badly the control horn plate (10 degrees off the parallel). The problem here was not the link rod but the plates were welded out of symmetry on the horn assembly. However the 'ears' of the control rod were easier to adjust. With some force the 'ears' could be twisted in the vise.

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Control Stick/Horn Joint (Aug, 4th, 2004)

Drilled this bolt location today - really no fun at all drilling 4/16" diameter thru the chromoly steel using the airdrill. Airdrill is much too fast and binds all the time.

This picture shows the torque tube of the control horn inside and the stick sleeve outside (and the problem).When the AN-4 bolt is torqued. Only a fraction of the bolt's head and of the nut really touch the tube. Deformation and intendation will result. I wonder how the others have worked around this problem. I will make two thick (5mm) washers of aluminum and grind these wedge-shaped such that the clamping force can be distributed evenly.

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