6/25/2006
Today I started on the rudder pedals. Mine are of the ground adjustable variety. First I fabricated end bearings out rectangular pieces of plastic. I cut them to a rough shape using my band saw. Then I marked where the large hole goes and cut it first with a drill and then with a Unibit (my favorite tool). I used an electric drill for the Unibit so that I could run it at a very slow speed. This worked out really well. It is amazing how accurately and cleanly a Unibit cuts large holes.
I mounted the bearings onto the rudder bar shaft and marked the outline and drilled the other two holes. Then I cut the bearings again with the band saw to their final size.
I spent some time positioning the assembly in the fuselage. I first had it set in the tall pilot position. When everything was centered and parallel to the pre-punched holes, I drilled the holes closest to the bearings. Then I unbolted and re-bolded the assembly in the short pilot position and drilled the holes next to the bearings. I back drilled the holes through the F-802G and they ended up perfectly centered.
On the front end there is a problem however. The flush rivet that is supposed to be slightly to the side on the firewall brace partially overlaps where the hole needs to be. I am not sure how to deal with this. I might need to drill out the flush rivet, make a bigger diameter hole and use an AN3 bolt instead of a rivet. I didn't take a very good picture of this.
Update (5/28/2006): The partial overlap was nowhere near as bad as I had though. After drilling out the rivet it is more accurate to describe it as a near total overlap. The hole is perfectly round except for a slight bulge on one side near the top. Boy did I luck out. I will not have to enlarge the hole to take on an AN3 bolt as I had previously thought.