Rudder Pedals - Part 1

After the floor plates are installed the next task is to fit the rudder pedals. 

The nylon blocks and fixing screw's were disassembled allowing the working face's of the pedals to be polished back to bare steel, sharp edges on the nylon blocks are chamfered lightly with a scraper.

The pedals paintwork is now touched up and coated with gloss acrylic as discussed in the article on painting. 

Connecting Rods
The factory supplied connecting rods are a stainless steel 8 mm o.d. rod with welded adapters to accept the M6 rod ends. Install the rod ends with M6 jam nut's. 

Install the connecting through the slots in the bulkheads near the floor, fit the rod ends and adjust to their initial positions ensuring that both rod end assembly's have the same center to center distance.

• What is the minimum thread engagement required to support the advertised load ratings in the Aurora Bearing Company catalog?
• The minimum thread engagement is 1.5 times the major thread diameter unless otherwise stated.

Pilots Pedals
Installed a temporary hanger manufactured from a piece of scrap aluminium fixed to the frame and the pedal board with clecos. This was leveled to the top side of the wheel well using a digital protractor. This was important to locate the pedal assembly accurately.

With the connecting rod laying in base of the slot's in bulkhead #2 & #3 to center it, lined up the mating mounting faces of the rod end and pedals. With the pedal positioned on the center of the wheel wheel opening - marked the location of the first hole with a transfer punch, removed the pedal assembly then drilled all the hole to 5 mm. [refer note below]

Nylock 6 mm nuts and washers are supplied fix the pedals to the floor. All M6 screws have Loctite Thread Lock applied at final assembly along along with a light application of grease onto the working faces of the pedals to prevent corrosion and improve operation.

Check for smooth operation - shim bearing gap if required.

Shimming
To ensure smooth operation a shim of 0.010 - 0.012'' may be required to reduce the clamping pressure of the nylon bearing.

Note: The first holes was drilled and a bolt inserted and tightened, marked the next hole in the opposite block on the diagonal, removed and drilled then marked the last two holes and drilled. It is critical that this be done as accurately as possible as there is only a small clearance in the bearing blocks mountings. 

Pedal in final position - squared from side off wheel well

Modifications: Nylon bearings are fixed with M5 medium-reach riv-nuts to allow removal of the pedal bearings for servicing and adjustment of clearances once the belly skins are installed.

Custom bolts were manufactured using M6 X 45 Unbrako screws. The bolts where hand threaded to provide the required amount of plain shaft to suit each application. Threads were trimmed to correct length and polished using a plastic buff on a bench grinder to remove all sharp edges. 

These bolts replaced any fully threaded bolts used in the pedal assembly's.

Nylock nuts or Loctite thread lock was used to secure all items.

Factory Aircraft - the pilots floor plates have a folding
added to raise the heal plates height