Bellcrank to Aileron Pushrods

I related in a previous post that I had misread the manual & drilled the holes too close to the end of the tubes.

So this is the second attempt at fabricating these pushrods …

… and as you can imagine I took great care in marking and drilling the holes!

I used a deburring bit to deepen the centre punch marks in the tubes, helping to centre the drill bit.

Set Square method to mark the second set of holes at 90º.

Having gained experience on drilling through tubes when making the Aileron Torque Tubes, I used the same technique for these pushrods.

The Rod Ends again needed a bit of filing to fit into the tubes (see previous attempt).

Having primed the inside of the tubes I stood them upright overnight.

The manual suggests use of a hand squeezer to set the AN470AD4-11 rivets, since they easily lean over.

I don’t have a hand squeezer … hmmm?

Since I had a spare set of pushrods I was able to try out various methods to set these …

… I attempted back riveting using the C-Frame, and although acceptable I wasn’t very confident to get consistent results.

The rivets are long and my squeezer would not open up enough without using my thin-nosed yoke. But actually, with practice, I found I could very gently & slowly squeeze the rivet, adjusting the angle slightly during the squeeze as required.

Happily the results were just fine : )

WD-1014 Aft Torque Tube Subassemblies

The manual stipulates a NAS1149F0363P washer is installed inside the torque tube clevis arm along with the pushrod rod end bearing.

I used a wedge of wood to gently splay the clevis arm to get a washer in place … but I ended up using a thinner NAS1149F0332P washer … there was no way the thicker one would fit.

All torqued up with the thinner NAS1149F0332P washer in place, and another NAS1149F0332P added on the outside to preserve the hardware thickness for bolt length.

CS-00013 Bellcrank to Aileron Pushrod

I’ve been spraying the pushrods black, so to make it worth getting the spray gun out, I prepared the VA-256 Flap Pushrods and CS-00005
Stick to Torque Tube Pushrods as well.

I find that marking the pushrod specified length on the bench, and using bolts to align the marks, makes it easy to fine tune the rod ends.

At this stage I only nip up the jam nut on one end in case the pushrod needs adjustment.

The neutral position of the aileron is established using the W-00026 Alignment Template.

I was pleased how well the aileron and flaps aligned, and also with the straight trailing edges! : )

 

The Aileron Bellcrank is adjusted into the neutral position by using the W-730 Bellcrank Jig.

This picture was taken earlier before the Wing Lower Skins had been attached.

Once again I found that the specified pushrod length worked a treat, and they were correct within half a turn on the rod ends.

I then torqued up the attachment bolts on the Aileron Bellcrank, but not at the other end since the ailerons will be removed for painting etc.