Short update

I have a few pictures for this update. I am sort of in detail-mode right now. I'm out of all the big tube material from last order, so it's time to start tweaking those little details that I glossed over to make forward progress. For instance, I used my West Marine quick-link and some sampled (free!) Alliance Plastics plugs on the nose area to make the tow release. The end caps sure clean up the look of the nose too. I sampled some more end caps hopefully to close out all the 1" tubing in the seat area and give that some more professionalism.

I worked on the aileron linkage underneath the seat too. I added the torque tube doubler (missed that before), so I feel much better about man-handling the controls (though as I understand it, the control forces are actually fairly light). I also split the PVC pipe and filed away material to make a "C" shaped until it fit with just about 1/16" of gap when the C was closed up to a circle. When I glue the bushing into the frame, the epoxy will help keep this gap from opening. Additionally, I added the 1/4" retainer piece to assist holding that bushing in place. I thought about leaving this with cleacos, but they interfere with the aileron crank, so I went ahead and riveted the support piece in.

As you might tell from the photo, I'm also concentrating on replacing any short bolts with ones that clearly use the shank as the load bearing intersection, instead of the threads. This also means I have at least 1.5 threads showing outside the locknut. I think this is proper use of these bolts, but I'll still have an A&P look over the structure before I do any covering. No sense in pushing when I have wiser folks around to critique.

Last, I added a couple of the line guides for the elevator control system. They are made from 1/4" x 0.035" tube ovalized to 3/16". The tiny supports are cut from the same ovalized stock and I used a Dremel sanding drum to put a curved surface on the ends of the support. This lets the supports have better surface contact and really takes no extra time.

I shall head off comments about the test control line saying it's some parachute cord that I had laying around and is just for mockup purposes. I'll get real spectra/dyneema when the time comes for rigging the lines.

Question: Do the ailerons need some stop-blocks somewhere? My aileron crank touches the wheel at full stick deflection and makes the wheel harder to roll. Maybe Sandlin used a rounder wheel?