Prior to tail cone attachment I tackled a few miscellaneous tasks and decided to work on fabricating the push rods and torque tubes for aileron actuation.
I 3D printed several drill guides (thanks again to Allen Glen for his 3D model) for the different tube diameters and this made match drilling the rod ends extremely easy.
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| After cutting pushrod to length and deburring, drill guide fits snugly over rod end and lines up with the edge to correctly position the rivet holes |
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| Rivet holes drilled at both ends of torque tube to bellcrank pushrod |
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| Push rods and rod ends deburred and ready for priming |
Next, I cut the steel bellcrank to aileron pushrods to length using a hacksaw and also fabricated the aileron bellcrank spacers and torque tube collars.
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| Slowly cutting through the steel tube to form two bellcrank to aileron pushrods |
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| Bellcrank to aileron push rods, aileron bellcrank spacers, aileron bellcrank bushings and torque tube collars all cut to exact lengths and deburred |
Using another
3D printed drill guide, I drilled the rivet holes in the ends of the bellcrank to aileron pushrods to #40. Once again the drill guide helped ensure that opposite holes were aligned as rivets will pass straight through this pushrod
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| Rivet holes being drilled into steel push rod |
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| After deburring the rivet holes and sanding a little on the insides of the push rods, the rod ends fit snugly |
After inserting the rod ends, I match drilled the rivet holes into the rod ends to #40, and then carefully upsized them to #30 ensuring that opposite holes remained aligned.
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| Success! AN470 AD4-11 rivets fit well through the rods and rod ends |
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| Rod end holes look good after upsizing to #30 |
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| Bellcrank to aileron push rod and rod end match drilling complete |
I then worked on temporarily fitting the aileron bellcranks to their respective brackets on each wing. I first had to sand the inside of each bellcrank pivot tube so that the bushings slid in without resistance, but with that done, the bushing fit nicely with no play and were exposed about 1/64" at each end of the bellcrank, within the spec specified in the plans.
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| Aileron bellcrank temporarily attached to wing brackets. Both bellcranks swung freely after attachment with zero resistance |
Next, I worked on the aileron torque tubes and after ensuring the rod ends were inserted correctly to form forward and aft torque tubes, match drilled the them using the 1/8" holes provided. I then put together the torque tube assemblies as specified in the plans, and match drilled the torque tubes and collars, upsizing the holes to #12 for AN3 bolts.
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| Rod ends match drilled forming forward and aft torque tubes for each wing |
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| Collars inserted to correct distance, and holes being upsized to #12 for an AN3 bolt |
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| Torque tube collars drilled and temporarily bolted to forward torque tubes |
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| Setting the correct torque tube assembly length and clocking (using a 5/16" block placed under the aft torque tube) |
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| Initial 1/8" drilling of aft torque tubes to collars complete. Assembly length and clocking looks good. |
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| Aft torque tube to collar holes upsized to #12 and temporarily bolted |
I then primed all the aileron actuation tubes (as well as elevator actuation tubes and a couple of other random parts I had worked on outside of this section) and left them for a few days to cure.
To prime the inside of the actuation tubes, I decided to pour EkoPrime (~50g per 4ft length) into the tubes and used a rubber glove trick I found online to slosh it around. I then poured out the excess and left the tubes standing vertically so that any remaining primer would drip out. The tubes were then left for several more days for the inner coating of primer to fully cure.
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| Actuation tubes left to cure after being spray primed on the exterior |
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| Fingertips were cut off latex gloves and stretched over the ends of the actuation tubes to allow primer to be poured in at the opposite end. That end was then also sealed with a latex fingertip and the primer inside could be sloshed around to coat all surfaces. The method had the additional advantage of sealing the rivet holes in the tubes to prevent primer exiting through those. |
After the primer had cured, I did find that there was some buildup of primer at the ends of several pushrods that prevented the rod ends from sliding in, so I decided to sand it out and instead applied a thin coat of boiled linseed oil over the sanded areas.
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| EkoPrime build up sanded out from pushrod end |
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| Thin coating of boiled linseed oil applied over sanded area and left to dry completely |
I then riveted the rod ends to the pushrods with MSP-42 rivets.
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| Torque tube to bellcrank pushrods with ends riveted in |
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| After riveting, pushrods bearings were adjusted to the initial length provided in the plans |
Next I riveted the ends onto the bellcrank to aileron pushrods using AN470 AD4-11 rivets. As others have done, I chose to buck these after making sure that the pushrod was securely held in the vise prior to bucking. All rivets turned out well, and I made sure there would be no rubbing of shop heads against the rear wing spar once the pushrods were put in place.
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| Rivets and rod ends attached to bellcrank to aileron pushrods |
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| Aileron torque tubes were bolted at the forward end. The aft end will be bolted after attachment to the wings, but for now I loosely attached the aft end bolts to keep all parts together. Torque tube ends were also riveted using MSP-42 rivets |
Dates: December 7 2025 - December 10 2025, January 18 2026, February 19 2026
