REFLECTOR: Sticking rudder pedals

[John Tvedte]

Geoff,

The pedals should run free and smooth - and the toe brake system should not require any additional return springs.

You should not use the external springs on the Matco cylinders either - they can cause scratches in the cylinder shaft which can damage the o-rings.

Some comments from Scott @ Velocity...re. external springs on brake shaft.

" There are return springs built in but these were added
as helpers to make that better.  Actually they were to
help a person keep from pushing on them when they didn't
want to.  It just didn't work all the way around.  Bad
idea.

I would take those springs off the cylinders as I do not
use them anymore.  They are not needed and do not do what
they were supposed to do.  Scott"

I used Lubriplate spray lithium grease to lubricate the pedals.
http://www.lubriplate.com/products/spray-lubricants/spray-lube-a.html

John


From: reflector-bounces at tvbf.org [mailto:reflector-bounces at tvbf.org] On Behalf Of Geoff Gerhardt
Sent: Sunday, November 13, 2011 6:14 PM
To: Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list
Subject: REFLECTOR: Sticking rudder pedals

I have the toe break rudder pedal setup.  I just setup my rudders yesterday and found that the co-pilot left rudder pedal doesn't work.  Without the rudders attached both pedals, all the pedals work smooth, but as soon as I connected the rudder cables to the pedal system, the pilot pedals work nice and smooth and can exercise the rudders thru their entire range, and the co-pilot right rudder pedal works just fine, but when I try to depress the co-pilot left pedal, it just binds.  It will only depress down if I either pull on the right rudder pedal (either P or CP), or pull on the left rudder cable.  The only thing I can think is that the tube-in-a-tube rudder actuation mechanism is binding as the co-pilot pedal is pushed.  As I mention, it works fine as the pedal is not depressing against a load (i.e. with the rudder cable disconnected), so I'm guessing there's some torquing of the mechanism going on that is causing it to bind under load.  I don't see an easy way to get lubrication in between the tubes that might help relieve some of this binding.  Is this a problem others have experienced?

Thanks.

Geoff
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