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Fuselage Page 1 The next step after mounting the emphennage is to get the elevators rigged. I enjoyed this part of the project, as it was fairly low stress compared to getting the tail attached. Elevator throw was determined using a smart level as shown in the 1Q99 RVater. I also made the rear control stop that Scott M. developed. The front control stop is not done as of this writing.
Drilling the pushrod attach hole was un-eventful. Make sure both elevators are in trail and in the same plain. I put a 6' level on the floor, made sure it was level with the HS, and measured from it to the trailing edge of the elevators in the center on both sides. This turned out to be about 19" from the outside edge of each elevator. The block shown in the top left of the photo was made by the local machine shop from some scrap steel at no charge. I measured the distance between the two horns, and it came out to 3/4". The block is 3/4" by 2" by 3". It has 3 holes drilled in to, a #40 for the pilot hole, a #15 and a 3/16".
It's great to be able to move the elevators with the control sticks now.
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I didn't drill my horns through the center bearing yet, so this was my
first step. My right horn lined up just fine, but my left horn as slightly off. When a
mark was made on the horn through the center of the bearing, as I rotated the elevator the
mark would drift about 1/16". I fretted over this for about a week, and after talking
to everyone I could, I just drilled it. When I did, I put some very slight pressure on the
top of the elevator horn. This took out allot of the play, and it swings just fine,
without any binding. The bolt does rotate however. I will replace it with a drilled bolt
and a castelated nut and cotter pin to ensure it can't come loose. 
First
locate where the hole should be drilled. I used min edge D for a 3/16" bolt, as far
to the forward and bottom of the horn as possible. This will prevent binding of the
pushrod. Then drill your #40 hole in one horn, slip your block in between, clamp it in
place, recheck your measurements, and drill through the block into the other horn. Repeat
for the other hole, and I finished it off with a 3/16" chucking reamer through the
block. This worked out very well.
The 841 pushrod was cut 1.5"
longer then shown on the plans, and I'm glad I did! I ended up taking 1/2" off the
rod to get it to fit, but it's still 1" longer then what the plans show. Same goes
for the 840 & 839 rods. I used a circle template as shown to get the rivet spacing
even. For the smaller rods that took 6 rivets, I used an angle finder and put a rivet
every 60 deg. They came out pretty well. I tried getting primer down inside the tubes, but
it didn't work out as well as I'd hoped, so I ended up using Linseed oil as per Chet
Razer. I used the boiled variety, bought at Home Depot, but I later found out that Raw
Linseed will gum up and do a better job. The boiled stuff leaks, even after riveting.
I had to trim the bulkhead as shown because
it was interfering with the pushrod movement.
The bronze bushing in the control stick had
to be reamed to 1/4", as did the holes in the control column. I saw no reference to
this anywhere in the directions or plans, and my telepathic link to Van was not working
that night, so I had to call the factory to ask them if reaming was the correct action. I
used a 1/4" chucking reamer.
