Greetings all,
I've started the task of installing my sternpost and I've noticed what I
believe is a gross error in the alignment of the rudder horn.
I cut the base of the rudder exactly as it is shown in Chapter 2, exactly 90
degrees to the hinge pin line, and installed the nut plate and rudder horn
exactly as the instructions show. The upper and lower fuselage moldings at the
trailing edge are cut exactly on the cut line shown. Holding the rudder up to
the sternpost and sighting the alignment of the rudder horn shows it is a good
25 degrees out of line with the starboard rudder cable as it exits the fuselage
side and similarly out of line with the fuselage seam (level line). This
cannot possibly be right. Attaching the rudder cable to the horn in the fashion
shown using a bolt would put a side load on the cable thimble anytime the rudder
moves and almost certainly would cause the cable to fail with repeated use. I
followed the manual sequentially, so when the nutplate and rudder horn were
mounted I wasn't far enough along with the fuselage to verify the angle. If I
had waited until I was ready to install the sternpost to check the angle I'm
pretty sure I would have caught this because the angle is so off.
I can fix the problem, but it's going to take sawing off the nutplate,
adjusting the angle of the bottom of the rudder to match the cable line, and
then
re-installing the nutplate. I figure this is at least 10 hours additional work
minimum.
Has anybody else run into this? Am I missing an update somewhere that shows a
different procedure? I can't see this working at all as is.
Regards,
John Lawton
Dunlap, TN
A-245 (Scratching my head once again)
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