REFLECTOR: Aileron Tube Seal

[Joe]

If anyone looking for another approach, this is how I created mine.  I made
the clearance around the torque tube about 1/4 inch. Then assembled the
elevators, torque tube etc and put 1 wrap of duct tape around the torque
tube where it crosses the fuselage.  Then the canard was set in place, fully
fasted to attach points.  The 1/4" clearance was then filled with microglass
and allowed to cure (follow normal micro guideline like groving the foam.)
Remove the canard and dress up the microglass.  The same technique was then
used on the upper surface (in my case the really big hatch.)  It gives me
seal the thickness of 1 layer of duct tape all the way around the torque
tube.  Since I am not yet flying I can't confirm this works, but if it does
leak it will not be much.

Joe

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Alex Balic" <alex157 at direcway.com>
To: "Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list" <reflector at tvbf.org>
Sent: Thursday, February 17, 2005 12:36 AM
Subject: RE: REFLECTOR: Aileron Tube Seal


> Chuck- do you mean "elevator" torque tube? that sounds like a good
solution-
> others have used the soft side of Velcro to seal this gap as well, but I
> think that your method would have less drag.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: reflector-bounces at tvbf.org [mailto:reflector-bounces at tvbf.org]On
> Behalf Of Chuck Jensen
> Sent: Wednesday, February 16, 2005 6:36 PM
> To: Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list
> Subject: REFLECTOR: Aileron Tube Seal
>
>
> If my Velo is typical, air intrusion around the aileron torque tubes
> penetrations thru the side of the hull is a primary location of cold air
> infiltration.  This is apparently a high pressure area.  Ronnie Brown had
a
> fix of building a kind of air-dam ahead to reduce the air pressure in that
> area.  Better, but not quite what I needed for flying in <32F weather.
>
> After multiple attempts at fixing this problem, I've come up with a
> near-perfect solution.  I took some 1 1/4" diameter, very thin walled
clear
> rigid plastic tubing (from Aquarium shop) and cut off a chuck 3" long.  I
> then used a scissor split the side of this short tube, so I'm left with a
> split tube much like the foam pipe insulation you can put around your
water
> pipes.
>
> I then snapped this over the 1" aileron torque tube.  You will note, the
> extra 1/4" overlap come into play--later.  The plastic sleeve is slid
> outboard so it is situated in the circular notch where the torque tube
goes
> thru the side wall. You will be able to see one end of the sleeve in the
> cockpit (standing on your head) and the other end outside and under the
> canard.
>
> The plastic tube now acts as a sleeve around the torque such that when you
> move the elevator up/down, the torque tube rotates inside the plastic
sleeve
> which is stationary against the hull.  Then, using silastic or other good
> caulk/adhesive, fill in all the gaps/clearances between the hull and the
> plastic sleeve.  You now have a perfect fit with zero in leakage and the
> torque tube moves without resistance.  If you remove the canard, just pull
> away the caulk and replace when the canard is reinstalled.
>
> If you were too fine of a craftsman when you were forming your notch in
the
> side wall for the torque tube, there may not be enough clearance between
the
> hull and the torque tube for the plastic sleeve to slide past, so you may
> have to open the hole up a little bit to let the plastic tube slide in
> between the torque tube and the hull.  Now, you'll notice that the
oversized
> plastic tube overlaps on itself on the smaller 1" torque tube so when you
> caulk it up, the overlap ensures to caulk can not contact the tube.  Total
> cost:  About $10 for the rigid plastic tube and a little caulk.
>
> Add heated seat pads, and its almost tolerable during a trip thru Iowa in
> January.
>
> Chuck
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