Rudder Stops

 To keep the rudder from moving so far that it hits the elevator, you need stops on the rudder cable.  Pete designed a simple stop using a split piece of dowel with a Nicopress sleeve crimped on the rudder cable.

The block just bumps up against the bulkhead and keeps the Nicopress sleeve from wearing through the plywood on the bulkhead.

 That worked fine but the cable sawed a slot in the plywood over time.  To stop more wear I created some Nylon cable guides which stick out through the bulkhead.

 I wanted the stop to hit solid wood, not the end of the cable guide.  If the cable guide moved the stop position would change and the rudder hit the elevator.

I made these blocks from 3/4" plywood to cover the ends of the cable guides.  That way the stops again hit solid wood.  The blocks are screwed to the bulkhead to keep them in position.

 The screw holes are located so they only go through the plywood gusset not the structural members.  I clamped them in place to drill one hole, install the screw and stop nut, then drill the second hole.

 I lost the original stops so I made some new ones from a piece of 1" oak dowel.  The hole center was located, then used to align the table on the Shop-Smith.  I started the hole with a 1/8" center drill, then drilled to depth with a regular twist drill.

 A stop was clamped on the bandsaw to get a nice groove for the safety wire by spinning the dowel.  To make this easier I didn't cut the blocks from the ends of the dowel until the grooves were cut.  I added one more grove at the end where the Nicopress sleeve hits the block.

 A centerline was drawn around the block to use as a guide sawing the block in half.

I started sawing at each corner than worked to connect the corners.  The cuts on the long side were slow but it worked fine.

 With them cut in half I clamped each set back together then re-drilled the holes so they would fit nicely on the cable.

 You can see the saw blade wandered slightly but the pairs fit together and fit nicely on the cable.

I only varnished the outside, so the pairs would fit together better.  I need to put the tail surfaces back on before I can install these and crimp the sleeve in the correct position.

I am running out of little things to do.

Control Stick Boot

 We had an old rubber Gear Shift boot sealing the hole in the floor where the stick comes up through.  It was cracked and dead so I needed a new one.  As with the Cabane strut boots I wanted the older look of leather.  I still have plenty of goat skin scraps so that was my material of choice.

The idea was an eight sided Tee Pee with a Bellows at the bottom so it would move without restricting the stick.

 I made a card stock pattern for the bellows rings, traced it on the back of the leather and cut them out.

 To hold them properly aligned while sewing I used a narrow bead of Contact Cement to glue the 2 pieces together.

It made sewing them so much easier since they couldn't shift.

I decided that with one piece of the Bellows attached to the floor there wouldn't be enough movement.  To add more flex to it all I made a second set of rings, and glued and sewed them to the first set.  Much better.

 For the Tee Pee cone, again a card stock pattern, created with a little trigonometry.  Yes, we like math and drafting.

The pieces were glued and sewn together in pairs and then the pairs sewn together, leaving a flap so it can open to get it over the stick grip.

 To close the Tee Pee there is a piece of Velcro on the side and a shoe lace for the top. The shoe lace allows you to tighten the top snugly to the stick so it can't sag and bind the stick.

The Bellows has lots of movement.

 An aluminum ring was made from some 0.040" 2024-T3.

Holes were punched in the leather to match the screw hole pattern and the ring was glued to the top of the bottom piece in the Bellows.

Number 4 screws 1/4" long attach it nicely to the floor board.

 It looks good and with full deflection of the stick you can't feel it's there.  I need to go fly this thing.

Center Section Cabane Strut Leather Boots

 I needed some way to seal up the gaps around the Cabane struts where they pass through the cowling.  The old seals were a piece of aluminum with a plastic edge.  I wanted something older looking like these leather boots on the Bucker Jungmeister.

 I made each boot for the front struts from 4 pieces of Goat Skin.  I worked out a pattern using paper towel since it bent and formed the closest to the leather.  The pattern was drawn on the back of the leather.

The 2 inboard and 2 outboard pieces were sewn together.  Then those were sewn together on the aft seam.   I wanted to be able to install them without removing the struts, again so I needed a way to wrap it around the strut.

 To hold them in place I made an aluminum plate with a split at the front, so it can slip around the strut.  The front picks up 2 cowling screws and 2 Tinnerman nuts were added for screws inboard and outboard of the strut.

 The leather boot was glued to the top of the aluminum plate, slipped around the strut and under the cowling.

 Because everything is symmetric, left and right, the patterns work for both forward struts.

 I wasn't sure I wanted the seam in the front but it did make it much easier sewing it closed.

 The boot closes the hole nicely and has the look I was after.

The screws hold the plate snug to the cowling so it should be moderately water proof.

 For the aft struts I just made a plate with leather glued to it.  I couldn't come up with a simple boot design which fit snugly and would stay in place.

It closes the hole for the Monoplane landing wires.  I'll need to make some different ones to close all 4 holes when I put the Monoplane wings back on.

Cowl Latch Straps Done

I tried making the Ford springs with the 0.125" piano wire but it was too stiff.  I needed some wire about 0.100" diameter so we gave up on that for now and went looking for other springs.  Duncan and I found some that would work at the hardware store but they didn't have enough to do all 4 straps.

 After he went home I found enough springs at Lowes.
I had to make new straps for the lower, buckle, end.  I tapered the inside end on the belt sander and left it long enough to protect the cowl from the screws.  I countersunk the screw holes in the leather and used some Tinnerman Countersunk Washers, to keep the screws from pulling through the leather.

 There are a lot more parts than using the Ford springs.

There is a nylon bushing in the ends of each spring with a screw through it to hold the spring to the belt or cowl.

The flat plate and the joggled plate at the left end are designed to hold the bushing, for the spring end, perpendicular to the cowl skin.  It also spreads the loads so hopefully the cowl won't crack.

 I like the finished result.  I needed a second loop around the belt end to keep it secure in the slipstream.  I've used double sided Velcro for now.

 You can see here how the reinforcing plate is riveted to the cowl.

The nuts have to be high temp nuts because of the heat in the cowl.

 I think it's a great look.  With the springs they're easy to use and hold the cowl shut tight.