John,I guess the plane would still have blown around whether or not you had
a rudder lock, and comprehensive tie down or a hangar are the solutions for
that.
It is however easy to make an efficient rudder lock with an airfoil
shaped piece of thick ply, lined with carpet, which slides over the top of
fin & rudder. I have used this sort of thing for trailing, combined with a
shock cord going through the trim slots, around the trim actuator 'T' bar
(to stop it rattling) and holding the ply tight down on the fin & rudder.
Regards, David Joyce, G-XSDJ
----- Original Message -----
From: John & Paddy Wigney <johnwigney@worldnet.att.net>
Subject: Europa-List: Control locks
<johnwigney@worldnet.att.net>
>
>
> <<< The seat belt can be adjusted to hold the stick fully aft and central.
This is what I do
> when I tie the aircraft down for a nightstop. Mono or tailwheel Europas
don't have any problem
> with the rudder as they are interconnected with the tailwheel preventing
the rudder from blowing
> around in the wind. Nigel Charles >>>
>
>
> Hi Nigel,
>
> I have just got back from a trip to Sun N Fun at Lakeland, Florida and
> agree with your comments regarding holding the stick with the passenger
> seat belt. That part works fine. However, the rudder is another thing.
> On the way down from North Carolina last week, the wind was very gusty
> and turbulent and at one brief stop at Gainesville, Florida, I was
> surprised to be paged in the FBO office to look after my plane because
> it was blowing around !
>
> The plane was chocked on the mainwheel and the control stick secured but
> I found that since the rudder was not locked, the gusts were strong
> enough to swing the plane quite a lot as the tailwheel will swing when
> encouraged through almost 90 degrees; so I pulled the plane to an
> adjacent tie down and secured the tail so that I could finish my morning
> coffee. This was on concrete and may be less apparent on grass since the
> wheel will dig in more. I do not have the solution for the problem yet
> and it is on my list of 'to do' items. Any suggestions from fellow
> Europaphiles would be appreciated.
>
> Cheers, John
>
> N262WF, mono XS, 912S
> Mooresville, North Carolina
>
>
> ________________________________________________________________________
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> ________________________________________________________________________
>
>
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