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Build Diary

Cockpit

 



Work commenced on the cockpit area in early April 2008.  The rudder pedals went in without any drama - although you have to camfer the phenolic blocks to clear the welds on the rudder assembly.  This doesn't take long and is easily achieved using a Dremel tool with either a sander head or, as I used, a metal burring head.
 
Next I cut out the glare shield and thought I got the measurements spot on.  However, when installing it I found that the lower forward edges are short by about 3/16".  The shield is OK at the forward top section, but slowly flares away to this small gap at the bottom.  No big deal, as they are attached to the upper firewall by clips, but I'm a bit disappointed that it wasn't exact.  Next, I bent the instrument panel flanges, which again wasn't an issue.  The panel fits fine against the glare shield.
 
The control stick assembly wasn't hard, just time consuming.  Watch out when reaming the holes through the joy stick and the large bronze bushings, as it is easy to remove just a smidge too much, which will cause a bit of play in the sticks.  When you are getting close to the right dimension, slow down and take baby steps in filing/sanding away the material.  As it turned out, my RH stick is stop on with no play at all - the left one (mine) has a very small amount of play in it, not enough to bother me though.
 
The seat pan has slightly different dimensions to the standard, as I'm using the lowered seat option.  Again, easy to work out and execute.  Fitting the hinges was no drama and all went together well.  The elevator pushrod cover attaches to the channel underneath the seat (that is not explained in the instructions, but makes sense when you think about it (I didn't, and had to ask advice from the more learned of our brethren). 
 
Installing the control stick assembly required me to make a couple of 3/32" thick spacers on each side, as there was a little too much space between the assembly and the side attachment bracket.  I could have just used a few extra washers, but wanted a more stable platform to attach the assembly. 
 
More to come soon. 
 

 

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