REFLECTOR: Steel Aileron Torque Tubes/stick to torque tube

Ron N VelocityXLFG velocityxl at fastmail.fm
Tue Mar 25 07:21:32 CDT 2014


One step further is to  use one steel washer and one brass washer to 
keep the bearing surface from galling.

Ron

On 3/24/2014 7:08 PM, Laurence Coen wrote:
> Brian,
> This fix worked real well for me and is easy to do.  The junction of 
> the torque tube and the stick have wide area flat washers attached 
> with micro that connects them rigidly to the tubes.  The washers form 
> a large bearing surface to carry the load with no detectable slop.  I 
> do love cheap and easy.
> Larry
>
> *From:* Brian Michalk <mailto:michalk at awpi.com>
> *Sent:* Monday, March 24, 2014 12:17 PM
> *To:* Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list 
> <mailto:reflector at tvbf.org>
> *Subject:* Re: REFLECTOR: Steel Aileron Torque Tubes
>
> What follows is not a recommendation on a steel tube:
> If I were at this point, I would make a design change here.
>
> Look at the pivot of the control stick to the torque tube.  All of the 
> torque is sent through a -3 (I believe) bolt that needs to be 
> tightened enough to remove play, but loose enough to allow rotation.  
> It's a design that I wish I would have addressed.  If I were to do it 
> over again, I would:
>
> 1) Run the torque tube in the center of the keel, which may displace 
> your speed brake actuator.
> 2) attach it with the provided hardware to the top of the keel. The 
> forward bearing would be just aft of the control stick cutout, leaving 
> three or four inches extending (cantilevered) past the bearing.
> 3) using a larger ID tube, make an adapter that will slide over the 
> torque tube such that the torque tube pierces the adapter at a right 
> angle.  The control stick will be inserted into this adapter.  This 
> will be drilled and will transmit torque from the stick to the torque 
> tube.  The hole in the adapter will necessarily be longer along the 
> stick axis in order to rotate in pitch.  Alternatively, one could weld 
> on some thin steel that would sandwich around the torque tube, which 
> is easier than machining an oval hole in a tube.
> 4) Because the pivot point is very close (higher) to the keel cutout, 
> your keel cutout will need to be smaller to provide the required 
> control stops.  I haven't done it, but you can do the math.
>
> Using this design, the pivot bolt is only in shear, and not in torque, 
> which is the main difference from the plans.  I believe you will like 
> the feel of this design better than the design from the factory.
>
> The other benefit is that the design is symmetrical.  The factory 
> design is such that when the stick is moved left, it raises and is 
> allowed to impart more left aileron.  When moved right, it descends 
> into the cutout more, contacting the keel cutout earlier, resulting in 
> less right aileron deflection.
>
> I did machine a saddle that provides for one square inch of bearing 
> surface, but still don't like the behavior.
>
> On 3/23/2014 7:38 PM, Paul Folkes wrote:
>> Hi all,
>>
>> I was flicking through the wiki and read about the supposed issues 
>> with the standard aluminium torque tubes warping.  As I am near to 
>> bonding the keel in permanently, I would rather address this issue 
>> first.  Is there a problem with the alum tubes warping? Is the steel 
>> tube upgrade worth it, or am I looking for a problem that may not be 
>> there?
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Paul Folkes
>> XLRG
>> VH-VVX
>> /Building but a looong way to go!/
>>
>>
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