Need help with rudder cable exit dimensions

NC74392

NC74392

New member
Anyone know or willing to take a tape and measure where on the fuselage fabric the rudder cables come out? My drawing doesn't show that. :?:
 
Didn't you save your old fabric to serve a a template? How about your T/W steering cables and fairings? If you want I can make some paper templates off my Cruisair. Dan
 
The templates would sure help Dan. I don't know what happened to the old fabric. All I can find is the stuff off the wings and stabilizer. That's what I get for taking 10 years to rebuild 392.
The tailwheel steering cable exits were done "hit or miss". Needless to say there are some rather long patches under my fuselage back there and I don't want to make the same mistake with something ALOT more visible. The cable farings helped hide the "ugly" at least.
Let me know what I owe you. My e-mail is cruisair@hotmail.com
 
Dan, do you know if any one has installed a larger inspection cover on the rear of the fuselage? I have had a terrible time adjusting my T/W steering cables thru the little round inspection holes,and last summer I changed the lower bushing for the tailwheel and had to cut into the bottom fabric to get to the lock screw that is hidden inside. Now I have been fighting with a broken off trim tab cable that is almost impossible to reach. I think that an ample size inspection cover on one side of the fuselage would make things a lot easier, and for the guys doing a re covering job might be a good improvement. ____any advice?_____ Grant.
 
Dangerous Dave,
I dont have the placement for my cables either but I plan to simply stretch a heavy cord between the last roller (pulley) and the tail and make my measurements from that prior to putting the cover on. Will that work for me or am I all wet? :?:
Gary
 
Grant, You need to send skinny little kid with mechanical aptitude and a couple pieces of plywood down to the end of your fuselage to do the work. Other than that, you could make an 8X10 opening under the H/stab. Make an aluminum frame to glue your fabric to and then cover with a metal plate the same size as your frame and screw it to the inside frame. I'm not faulting all you current owners, but if the last person that covered your airplane would have made sure everything was "up to snuff," you wouldn't be faced with these problems.................Gary-Dave, I'll make paper templates for the rudder cables. Give me a few days........Dan
 
Ok, guys........the holidays are over and it's warmed up a bit in the hangar. I'll make the templates today. If you don't have my e-mail address, Bob will give it to you...so I can get your USPS address. Bob doesn't like personal info posted on the forum. Dan
 
Ditto from Me Dan. Now I can cut the fabric with confidence.
I'm making up my own cable exit farings out of aluminum, but I have this old Mattel Vac-u-Form machine I've had since I was 5 and it still works, so I may carve a form and mold them in plastic instead.
If anyone is interested, you can make a VacuForm here:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-a-good,-cheap,-upgradeable-sheet-plastic-vacu/
 
DD, You have more "stones" than me. I went into Webers and had them build all new cables with the ends swedged on. I've replaced all cables, wiring, brakes, etc. so hopefully, it will be trouble free and outlast me when I am done. I also added an encoding transponder which will allow me to go places that I may not be able to do without the transponder.
Gary
 
The opening for the rudder cables is well protected from above. If you make fairings, like where the upper aileron cable exits the wing, out of plastic, make sure it will stand up to your glues and "dopes." Dan
 
I will Dan. So far, everything is OK.

I have new cables throughout the aircraft but have yet to install the new aileron cables. A word of advice here- if you are going to pull new aileron cables, leave the old ones in until you are ready. That way you can use them to help pull the new ones in place- at least up to the pulley.

One concern- my new cables weren't stretched. My AI says just to retension them after several hours of flying (what? 10? 20?). Not looking forward to that because that means cutting the safety wire off the turnbuckles again and re-wrapping after retensioning.

I seem to remember an article about stretching/ load testing control cables using a fish scale and some sort of pulley setup, but I can't find it.

Did you go with stainless steel or galvanized control cables?
 
Both galvanized and stainless are acceptable. If you had a seaplane on or near saltwater, I'd suggest stainless, but this is not the case. After a few years, I give the exposed cables a light coating of oil or LPS3. There is oil in the cable when new. I cannot understand your IAs statement about retensioning. Under normal use there should never be enough tension on any of the cables to stretch them. Every annual inspection should involve the condition and tension of the cables. I've had my A&P for 34 years and I can't remember the last time I had to tighten up a PROPERLY installed cable. I'm sure it happens, but not very often, usually in aircraft that accumulate thousands of hours between rebuilds and by then, the whole worn system contributes to slack in the cable. Dan
 
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