REFLECTOR: Fixes for Stick Slop

[David Scharfenberg]

Oops!  Should have said that I welded the bracket to the stick, not  
the torque tube.  Everything else is the same.

Dave Scharfenberg



On Jan 7, 2011, at 3:11 PM, David Scharfenberg wrote:

I welded a modified "Z" shaped piece of flat steel (that is a Z with  
90 degree bends) to the torque tube and drilled a hole in it in line  
with the existing hole in the torque tube.  The bolt now goes through  
the new bracket , flat washer, stick, flat washer, torque tube, nut.   
No slop and has worker well for 350 hours so far.

Dave Scharfenberg




On Jan 7, 2011, at 1:14 PM, Douglas Holub wrote:

Some Reflectorite suggested this a few years ago (picture attached)  
and it's been working well for 130 hours now.

Doug Holub
----- Original Message -----
From: Bob Jackson (Jax Tech)
To: 'Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list'
Sent: Friday, January 07, 2011 1:35 PM
Subject: Re: REFLECTOR: Fixes for Stick Slop

Nice design and approach!  How many hours do you have on it?
Don't you still have concerns about the effect on the softer aluminum  
of the hard steel bolt?

From: reflector-bounces at tvbf.org [mailto:reflector-bounces at tvbf.org]  
On Behalf Of Brian Michalk
Sent: Friday, January 07, 2011 1:02 PM
To: Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list
Subject: Re: REFLECTOR: Fixes for Stick Slop

There has been little discussion on a fix.  My solution involves  
making a saddle, I'm not sure if it's what the factory does or not.

I think the tubes are 1/2", so I bought some 1/2"ID, .25" wall  
aluminum tube.
With about 2" of stock, I first machined a flat on opposing side,  
leaving about 1/8" thickness.
Next, cut the tube in half along a plane parallel with the two flats.
Take the two halves, and place them flat to flat, drilling a hole for  
the bolt.  The tubes can now be cradled in the saddle.

The flats help support the torque transmitted to the two tubes at  
right angles.  For extra smoothness, use a thin teflon washer(or  
sheet) between the flats.

On 1/7/2011 11:13 AM, Bob Jackson wrote:
We've been flying for a couple of years and now have 300+ hours on the  
plane.  When we started doing some formation flying recently I began  
to be aware that we're developing stick slop -- it's not what you want  
flying close formation, or when landing or anytime you need small  
corrections and fine attitude control.

When we built the plane we were leery of the standard steel AN3 bolt  
that joins the bottom of the aluminum stick stub and the aileron/ 
elevator torque tubes) -- even when improved with the U-shaped steel  
reinforcing collar that the factory started shipping.

In our case, we know that nearly all of our stick slop comes from this  
mechanical connection between the stick's torque tube and the aileron  
and elevator torque tubes.  We've been on the Reflector for 12 years,  
but haven't heard much, if any talk about this problem and  
improvements that builders have made.

The question is:  do any of you have good fixes for this connection  
that eliminates stick slop?

Thanks,
Bob Jackson
N2XF


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