 |
| Increased size of opening in skin for trim tab threaded rod |
 |
| Used cordless drill battery to test movement of trim tab |
Showing posts with label Trim Tab. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Trim Tab. Show all posts
Monday, April 16, 2012
Trim tab motor test
A small amount of work needed to be done to finish up the trim tab. I needed to increase the size of the opening in the skin where the threaded rod exits to allow full up/down travel. This was accomplished with a rat tail file and some emery cloth. Once that was finished, I connected the motor leads to my cordless drill battery, and tested the motor in both directions. It was cool to see the motor moving the trim tab for the first time.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Trim Tab
Many people make the trim tab several times until they are satisfied with it, so as on the trim tab opening on the left elevator, I practiced making my bends on some scrap aluminum before I made the those on the trim tab itself. This procedure worked well for me, and I'm happy with how the trim tab turned out.
Prior to making the first bend, I sandwiched the skin between some angled pieces of oak and clamped them to my workbench. I used double sided tape on the skin to prevent the oak wedge from slipping while the bending was taking place. I made the initial bend with another piece of wood, which I used to push the skin down toward the forming blocks. After that was finished, I used my rivet gun with low pressure (approx. 10 psi) with a flush set to complete the bend. Prior to bending, I made a radius on the oak wedge upper edge, which allows the skin to from a nice radius rather than a sharp angle. My initial practice pieces had very sharp angles that would eventually crack. With the bottom side finished, the assembly was turned over, re-clamped to the table, and the process repeated. The same procedure was then used for the inboard edge.
With all the bends complete, the hinge was drilled and attached to the trim tab and later to the elevator. The trim tab motor and cover plate were assembled, and the control horn was riveted to the trim tab. A few of the rivets for the control horn near the trailing edge are a bit difficult to reach, so I riveted the control horn prior to setting the rivets in the trim tab edges. This allows the trim tab to be opened, which makes it easier to access the more challenging rivets for the control horn. With that step complete, the remaining rivets were set.
Prior to making the first bend, I sandwiched the skin between some angled pieces of oak and clamped them to my workbench. I used double sided tape on the skin to prevent the oak wedge from slipping while the bending was taking place. I made the initial bend with another piece of wood, which I used to push the skin down toward the forming blocks. After that was finished, I used my rivet gun with low pressure (approx. 10 psi) with a flush set to complete the bend. Prior to bending, I made a radius on the oak wedge upper edge, which allows the skin to from a nice radius rather than a sharp angle. My initial practice pieces had very sharp angles that would eventually crack. With the bottom side finished, the assembly was turned over, re-clamped to the table, and the process repeated. The same procedure was then used for the inboard edge.
With all the bends complete, the hinge was drilled and attached to the trim tab and later to the elevator. The trim tab motor and cover plate were assembled, and the control horn was riveted to the trim tab. A few of the rivets for the control horn near the trailing edge are a bit difficult to reach, so I riveted the control horn prior to setting the rivets in the trim tab edges. This allows the trim tab to be opened, which makes it easier to access the more challenging rivets for the control horn. With that step complete, the remaining rivets were set.
 |
| First bend is made around angled oak blocks |
 |
| Inboard edge bends completed |
 |
| Control horn riveted to trim tab skin |
 |
| Hinge riveted to leading edge of trim tab and fit to elevator |
 |
| Rivets set attaching hinge to elevator |
 |
| Trim tab motor assembly work |
 |
| Motor assembly completed |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)