Troy Maynor wrote:
> Hi All, I desire to build a control lock for the rudder. Searching
> the archive I found the good idea of the pvc pipe assembly that goes
> onto the pedals and back to the stick or seat edge maybe, however I
> am looking at trailering my Europa a lot, at first anyway. It would
> seem this design would allow wind to whip the linkages and cables too
> much.
You are right indeed. I have some experience with (backwards) trailering
the Europa and forces when a truck passes from the opposite direction
are enormous. When I was trailering the Europa to the upholstery
companty I had a temporary lock that came off at the moment that a
truck passed and the rudder whacked back so I could feel it in the car.
Damage: the rudder tried to pivot over the rudder stop tab, and this
induces a tearing force on the hinge. I could see that the hinge area of
the rudder was stressed, small vertical cracks and a whitish appearance.
I later reinforced this with a couple of UNI layers perpendicular on the
cracks. This incident happened by the way with a speed of 80 Km (about
50 mph). I guess this is a speed very easily achieved by a tail slide,
so this incident is for me proof that a Europa will not be able to
handle even a small tail slide.
Anyway, my solution was to make a device just like shown by Ron
Parigoris in another post, except that mine is in a V-shape, and the
open end of the V is connected via a bolt that goes through the trim
slot. It is therefore quite low on the rudder, where I think most of the
forces and potential for damage is. And it doesn't try to twist the
whole rudder and fin assembly together. The legs of the V extent all the
way over the tailplane "stubs", so they have quite some leverage and the
forces spread over a large area that is already reinforced for the
tailplane.
The legs are made of metal tubing, with insulation around it.
The design works: the painter who did my airplane is 200 Km away from
here, had to get there when the wind was about 40 knots. On the way back
there was not much wind. But the airplane survived both travels without
any problems.
If my description is not clear, I will make pictures.
Frans
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