Twisted: Week 70 - Rudder pedals and cowl flap linkage

Hours to date: 704.0

As promised I will now talk about the 'real' Twister kit - and not just my mod!

But there is still a little more of the mod for those who are interested.

As a result of the safety cell lengthening mod, installing the rudder pedals was a little more involved than it would otherwise be.

I found I had to add some more micro to the block that sits at the very end of the cell as it was still not quite the right shape.

To get the right shape I used a technique I borrowed from Pete. Which is to hold a pencil at the right distance out from the cell - using my finger behind it - then smoothly follow the shape of the cell while marking the edge of the block with the required curve.

Worked out perfectly.

This block and the carbon plate at the other end of the pedals have to be bonded into the cell with flock.

The instructions say to do this without the pedals on the slider tube but I wanted to make sure that everything was square and so I left them on and used some blocks of wood to keep it all square and in the right place while the flock set.

As you can see below I used two spirit levels to get the pedals level. The sides of the cockpit are a level - cross checked by putting the smaller level on the spar tunnel (which we know is level).

Then I put the smaller level on the top of the pedals and got them square.

Everything else should be lined up with the safety cell seam.

The other two little jobs I did in this area were making the holes for the rudder cables - actually the tube that the cables run in - in the sides of the cell.

The instructions say to cut a big hole - 65mm long but I noticed Pete just drills a hole of the right diameter (8mm) at the appropriate angle and this is what I did. A lot less messy methinks.

Then there are the two attachement points for the ends of the cables that need to be fitted - again in the end of the footwell - in line with the outside bottom of the pedals.

I'll flock in the washer and bolt on the outside of the cell (as per the instructions) then I'll remove the forked connecters when I go to paint the inside of the cockpit.

I can't do too much more of this job until I get hold of a Nicopress tool - this tool crimps the cable ends and is very expensive - over £200 so I will try to borrow one rather than splash out.

Onto my favourite subject - the mod!

As you can see I have bonded in the cowl flap and made up a connecting linkage for the cowl flap control that will go inside the cockpit.

Very time consuming making the ali plate - all done by hand and with a file...

Still the brass bush slides very nicely inside it now and locks into it's little notches so I'm pretty pleased with it.

I made it from the only Ali I had lying around which is 3mm thick - I will make the one on the inside of the cockpit with thinner ali as 3mm is a bit overkill.

I also want the one on the inside to be etched with some markings. Oil Cowl Flap, Open and Closed.

I got the linkage all set up as a test and it works well - I found I just had to shorten the connecting rod by 3mm to make it work right - so I'm pretty pleased.