What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

Elevator horn hitting Bulkhead F-112

mfleming

Well Known Member
Patron
Today I was grinding away on the up elevator stop to hopefully achieve 30° up deflection. My bad, a little too much grinding without checking. Now the elevator horn hits the aft bulkhead F-112.

OK. I can replace the stop but my concern is, the elevator horn hits the bulkhead with only 26° up deflection. Is something really out of wack that the up deflection is so limited :confused:

The elevator horn would have to be ground down where it hits the bulkhead to achieve full deflection...

Any insight would be appreciated.
 
Fix that...

The elevator horns really should NOT come into contact with the aft bulkhead (F-712).

I noticed that Van's introduced a change to the shape of the WD-605-R and L horns at some point along the way (after 2005 and before 2015), where the aft bottom edge of the horns are trimmed a bit more than what is depicted in DWG 5 and 27A. (see picture)

This allows more aft travel of the horns before contact is made with the F-712D stop or F-712 bulkhead.

Cheers,

B

edit - check builders manual, I believe you will find that 30° is the maximum and 25° is the minimum for up-elevator (full aft stick) deflection.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1439.jpg
    IMG_1439.jpg
    173.5 KB · Views: 254
Last edited:
The elevator horns really should NOT come into contact with the aft bulkhead (F-712).

I noticed that Van's introduced a change to the shape of the WD-605-R and L horns at some point along the way (after 2005 and before 2015), where the aft bottom edge of the horns are trimmed a bit more than what is depicted in DWG 5 and 27A. (see picture)

This allows more aft travel of the horns before contact is made with the F-712D stop or F-712 bulkhead.

Cheers,

B

edit - check builders manual, I believe you will find that 30° is the maximum and 25° is the minimum for up-elevator (full aft stick) deflection.

Roger that on not hitting the aft bulkhead. And yes, the up max and min are 30°/25°. Even hitting the aft bulkhead my elevator only achieved 26°...I'd like to get as close to 30° as I can.
 
To those that may be interested in this discussion, I talked to Vans this morning.

They recommended removing material from the elevator horn to achieve the up angle needed. Material can be removed as long as a ⅜" edge distance is maintained to the rod bolt hole.
 
Michael,

How do your elevator horns compare to the ones in the picture? Did Van's acknowledge a change to the original weldments?

B
 
Michael,

How do your elevator horns compare to the ones in the picture? Did Van's acknowledge a change to the original weldments?

B

My elevator horns are the newer ones. Mine have a 45° on the aft side to allow for better clearance. Even so, they hit the aft bulkhead at only 26°. I'll trim some meat off the aft end of the horns and see what that gets me.
 
Today I was grinding away on the up elevator stop to hopefully achieve 30° up deflection. My bad, a little too much grinding without checking. Now the elevator horn hits the aft bulkhead F-112.

OK. I can replace the stop but my concern is, the elevator horn hits the bulkhead with only 26° up deflection. Is something really out of wack that the up deflection is so limited :confused:

The elevator horn would have to be ground down where it hits the bulkhead to achieve full deflection...

Any insight would be appreciated.

I had the similar issue when fitting my RV8. The best I could get was +25 deg before the aft end of the control horn touching the bulkhead. I ground down the control flange a bit to provide a bit of clearance. Since the +25 deg is within the tolerance so I decided it was enough.
 
Another gotcha...

See DWG 4 - Note 3, DWG 5 - Detail D. The distance of the elevator rod-end eyes to the face of the E-00001A and 1B hinge doublers is listed as 13/16" to a maximum of 7/8".

Since the E-00001A & B are relatively a new addition to the elevators (circa 2014 IIRC) and are .063" thick, it's possible that this dimension isn't accurate.

If this dimension is off, it will throw off the hole location in the WD-605-R & L and VA-146 "sandwich" (DWG 5 - Detail A) and the amount of elevator travel.

Just a thought...

B
 
Elevator deflection issue

See DWG 4 - Note 3, DWG 5 - Detail D. The distance of the elevator rod-end eyes to the face of the E-00001A and 1B hinge doublers is listed as 13/16" to a maximum of 7/8".

Since the E-00001A & B are relatively a new addition to the elevators (circa 2014 IIRC) and are .063" thick, it's possible that this dimension isn't accurate.

If this dimension is off, it will throw off the hole location in the WD-605-R & L and VA-146 "sandwich" (DWG 5 - Detail A) and the amount of elevator travel.

Just a thought...

B

Yeah I've got a similar issue and I'm thinking this may be the case. Roughly 23deg UP and 28deg DOWN. Horns are hitting the fore and aft stops. It's as if the entire elevator is sitting slightly aft of where is should be.

I've emailed the Mothership for thier 2 cents
 
To those that may be interested in this discussion, I talked to Vans this morning.

They recommended removing material from the elevator horn to achieve the up angle needed. Material can be removed as long as a ⅜" edge distance is maintained to the rod bolt hole.

Good for calling Vans, I also called and had to grind a bit off the horn as well on my -7.
 
Horns

Just curious how much and exactly where the material was removed from the elevator horns.
I think it's the area already trimmed at a 45° angle.
That would also be the area limited to 3/8" edge distance from the edge of the hole to the edge of the 45?
 
Back
Top