Friday, July 3, 2015

F-1293 Rudder Cable Rigging Begins

Hitting a roadblock with the wrong rivets for the trim pushrod assembly, decided to move on and begin working on rigging the rudder cables. Prior to pulling the cables through the tailcone, it is necessary to safety wire the 10 inch plastic sleeve to the clevis at the end of the rudder cable. A #40 hole is to be drilled into the plastic sleeve 3/16” from the end of the sleeve … this hole is used as a hole for safety wire. This is best done by hand to insure the rudder cable is not compromised. The plastic is very easy to get through with just a few turn of a sharp drill bit.
After a few turns by hand, the #40 drill bit went through the soft plastic sleeve covering the rudder cable with ease.

A piece of safety wire is passed through the newly created hole in the plastic sleeve and around the clevis on the end of the rudder cable and twisted tight with safety wire pliers.
Using safety wire pliers to twist the ends of the safety wire together securing the plastic sleeve to the clevis.
Both F-1239 rudder cables with safety wire securing the plastic sleeve to the clevis on the end of each rudder cable.

After the plastic sleeve is safety wired onto the end of the cable, the string that was installed in the tail cone years ago was finally used to pull the cables through the tailcone. Have to say this would have been much easier with a helper. Because the cable wanted to get snagged on the frames inside the tailcone, I had to improvise. Ended up using a clamp attached high on the baggage bulkhead to raise the cable.
A clamp placed high on the baggage bulkhead along with some weight on the cable to create a back drag aided in helping the cable get lifted over the frames in the tailcone.

The cable was not clamped, it just slid over the clamp.  A little weight was placed on the cable to create a back drag. Doing this really helped … when the string was pulled from the aft end of the tailcone, it tended to lift the cable up and over the frames. Still had to walk back and forth a few times to reposition the back drag weight, but overall this method got the job done rather quickly and would suggest it for those doing this task by themselves.
Right rudder cable is installed. The left rudder cable is about to go through the last hurtle … the grommet at the aft end of the tailcone.
Both rudder cables fished through the RV-12’s tailcone and ready for the rigging process.

Will try to complete the rudder rigging during the next work session. However, prior to doing the rigging, a wooden rudder control lock needs to be fabricated to lock the rudder pedals in a neutral position for a little match drilling. So will need to slice and dice one of the lids from a shipping crate and create a little saw dust first.