The F word

No not that one. Flutter.

Recently I noticed that the elevators had a little bit of play in them. 

The port side was much worse than the starboard. 2.5mm measured at the trailing edge but less than 1mm of play on the starboard side.

The play was all coming from the Hex in the elevator, the female part of the elevator connection, which slides onto the ali male hex on the elevator tube.

Consulting Matthias about this he said just to wax up the metal part and then put flock into the fiberglass hex part and slide the tailplanes back on and let them cure.

So that's what I've done and this has taken all the play out.

When I was on my recent trip in the cruise at altitude I found I could induce a little flutter of the tailplane by very gently 'polling forward' on the joystick. Not good. 

I went for a test flight yesterday after fixing the play and I'm pleased to say - no more flutter.

Something worth checking.

Video of the port elevator play below.

Tailplanes off for the elevator hex fix.

Metal hex and surrounding area all waxed up so the flock does not bond to it.

The fibreglass hex inner was sanded and then cleaned with Acetone before applying a thin layer of flock to take out the play. The hex was also inspected carefully to see if there was any cracking or other damage but all was well.