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Hand controls in an RV

Kahuna

Moderatoring
Looking for someone who may know of an RV with hand control modifications for a handicapped pilot. Anyone ever seen one?
If your able to put me in contact with someone please let me know.
THanks
 
I know one

guy in a wheelchair that built a Glassair (streatched 2+2 with a Wltoer 601 turbine) with hand controls.

His name is Wayne Avery and he is mentioned on a few Glasair websites.

The Glassair has a fixed upper canopy with doors and his controls hang down from the top. I can't see how this would work in a 2 seat RV but should be doable in an RV 10.

Do a web search on Wayne, if you can't find him let me know as he is probably in the phone book.

Cheers

Frank
 
Met a guy at Arlington that built and flew his RV-6.

Watched him get in and out by himself. Didn't want help.

I think his name was Carl Hay.

Bryan Carr
 
Yes, Mike, the previous post reminded me of the same guy, Carl Hay. IIRC, there was an article complete with photos of his RV-6 (not a 6A) with hand controls. It was either in EAA's Sport Aviation or the RVator. I believe it was in Sport Aviation about 8-10 years ago. I may be wrong about the time frame.
Hope this helps.
Don

P.S. I found this jpg on the Matronics site: (I Googled "Carl Hay RV-6." )

http://www.matronics.com/ftp/Scans/RV/896pnl1.jpg

P.P.S. More Googling indicates the article was in the May 1996 issue of Sport Aviation and is on page 61 and is titled "Climbing Everest Mastering an RV-6 With Hand Controls Only-Carl Hay."

It looks like he is a member of EAA Chapter 105 in Portland, OR.

P.P.P.S. I also found a reference to a Kitplanes article in October, 96, on page 28 of "Helping Hands (RV-6 special cockpit
design for wheelchair pilot), Oct., p. 28" It's probably also about Carl Hay's RV-6.
 
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There's on **** of a pilot who flys out of Livermore Ca in an RV4 who is handicapped. He lurkes on this list, I'm sure he will chime in.
Tom
 
Kahuna,

As mentioned by Tom, here in Livermore Bruce Cruikshank and a partner built an RV-4 with hand-controls some years ago (It was featured in Sport Aviation a few years back). In addition, Bruce is currently building a -9A which will have similar mods.

If you want, PM me your contact info and I will deliver it to him on Saturday when I see him at our chapter breakfast.
 
Handcontrol RV8A

Hi Guys, I'm the bloke from Oz and with the help of a couple of good mates am building an RV8A Fastback QB.
I am a paraplegic with no use of my lower limbs and have been flying Piper PA28, PA32, P32RT and Bonanza with hand controls for rudder and brake for 17 years.
I decided I wanted to build an RV 2 years or so ago and made some enquiries with Vans who gave me Carl Hay's name. Carl and I have become firm friends and have the same disability.
Carl slow built an RV6 in the early nineties and has a pair of joy sticks for his right hand mounted in the centre of the fuselage. This pair of sticks control the rudder and differential brakes. He has not installed conventional rudder pedals or brakes in his aircraft. He uses the standard joystick for all other normal flight operations.
Carl lives at Eagle Creek east of Portland and is a member of EAA Chapter 105. If you wish to talk to him contact me at ([email protected]) and I will check with him that it is ok to pass on his details.
After looking at all the RV models and after speaking with Carl I decided on the 8A due to the cockpit width. Unlike Carl, I like to use a different setup for the handcontrol and operate the rudder with a handle working in the vertical plane with my left hand, hence the requirement for a wider cockpit.
With GA aircraft, particularly Piper, it is normal to design and build a removeable handcontrol. However these hand controls are not as good as they could be.
With the RV I am designing a dedicated permanently installed handcontrol that will still allow my mates to fly it normally. After all, they are helping me build it.
We have made many modifications to the standard design including,
enlarged rear luggage area to accommodate a wheelchair,
Showplanes fast back and canopy which looks good, has more volume in the rear luggage and removes the canopy side rails,
installed an electric trim in the rudder,
engineered and cut a 'Spitfire type 1/2 door in the left side fuselage to reduce the height in which to climb over the side,
mounted the rudder control bar at the left side of the front seat,
mounted a hand brake with differetial braking off the joystick,
Installed a layshaft under the rear floor to transfer the rudder control from the handle to the rudder cables.
All this has taken many hours and I guess has added about 800 hours to our build time.
We are now awaiting the finishing kit with more than 1500 hours invested in a quick build.
I had considered a removal hand control but have not designed one and believe it would not be without its challeges.
Apart from my RV and that of Carl's I am not aware of any others that have been converted.
A useful source of information might be the International Wheelchair Aviators who have a web site.
As I am still installing the handcontrol I cannot give you finished photos but I have heaps of the process. If you like, just send me your email.
Hope this helps.
Cheers Cliff
 
WOW!!

Cliff,
You're an incredibly unselfish individual.....may God richly bless you. I read your article in total awe as it showed such determination and resolve to just simply cope with your disability with no complaining or self-pity....you're an admirable man. Thanks so much for sharing,

Sincerely,
 
Cliff

Good on yer mate!

I have a young friend who recently had a motorcycle accident and is now a paraplegic...His Dad and I were wondering how to encourage him, so we hooked him up with my friend Wayne who built the 700HP Glassair with hand controls.

I think he came away from that meeting pretty inspired. I managed to get him to help us install the wings on the 7a, for which I owe him a ride. I am currently thinking about how we might get him in and out of the 7a.

Anyone got any ideas?

Frank
 
Pierre, Frank and all our flying friends.
Neither Carl nor I or any of our about one hundred disabled flying friends think we are anything special. We were just young men and women when hurt and realised that there was too much living to be done to lay back in some institution.
Experimental Aircraft present special challenges for the disabled wishing to fly rhem as there is no FAA approved handcontrols. You have to think through, design, manufacture, test and possiblt redesign again any system you wish to use. Hoever, the end result can be much better than the FAA approved systems which are generally removable from the aircraft.
If your disabled friends want to learn to fly or do a test flight I suggest you contact the International Wheelchair Aviators. Mike Smith is the President, himself a paraplegic and CFI of his own flying school at Big Bear City California. IWA is represented throughout the USA and has members world wide. I think GA would be a better introduction than experimental.
Frank, Getting a para in and out of an RV7 should be no big deal. Carl Hay gets in and out of his 6 unassisted all the time, though I have opted for a small door as we are not getting any younger.
Just have a couple of able body friends to assist and take your time. A small piece of wet suit rubber about 1 or 2 foot square would have to protect his boney bum as he gets over the side.
I'm coming to OSH this year, with credit card obuse shopping list, and would look forward to meeting any of your over there. I think Carl Hay is coming over as well.
Cheers Cliff
 
EAA featured builder article

There was an EAA magazine (Sport Aviation) article of a RV-6 with hand controls. It featured the builder and his wife. It was published in the last 10-15 years. That is just what you need. There is also a RV-4 with hand controls. I will look for it and email a copy. You can buy all back issues on a CD with all the Sport Aviation articles. The cost is not too bad either.
 
Differential breaking with hand lever

Cliff,

clould you please describe, how your breaking system is working? I want to build my RV8 with the breakes activatet by a hand lever either at the stick or at the throttle. I'm collecting ideas, how to manage the break pressure distribution between the left and the right wheel.

Thank You!
 
Ingo, we have not resolved all the details yet but I expect to have all the answers and photos in the 4-6 weeks.

These are our current thoughts on the hydraulics.

The first concept was a single biasing valve connected to the hand control
and a single brake lever (Matco M7) on the stick. If 100psi is applied to the hydraulicsystem on the stick the biasing valve would bleed off pressure as required o the selected brake depending on its position. The problem with this
concept at the moment is that once the pressure has been reduced from say
the LH brake, returning the hand control to the neutral or centre position
would not bring the pressure back up to what is still been applied to the RH
by the master cylinder on the stick. The aircraft would continue to steer
to the right unless you released the brake lever and re-applied it.

The second was simple, two brake levers mounted on the control stick, and 2
additional shuttle valves. This allows two independent systems. Normal toe
brakes and the hand control system. MATCO are looking in to making this
setup at the moment. The up side of this system is it is light and simple.
The shuttle valves provide the cross over point for each system. The down
side is getting use to the two brake levers on the control stick and being
able to manipulate them easily.

The third concept , I am currently looking in to is a couple of pressure
relief valves with internal pistons and springs. Placed in series with the
brake line, the piston and spring would be depressed by the hand control
linkage causing the pressure to decrease (however the fluid is still
contained within the valve), when the hand control is moved in the opposite
direction the piston and spring force the fluid back in to the line raising
the pressure back up to that still applied at the control stick. Up side, it looks better on the stick and should be easy to operate from with a single brake lever. Down side is getting the right valve, adjusting the
pressures and mechanical linkages to obtain what we need, and still have a
system that has a risk assessment of low potential failure.

I will post a full description when the system is resolved. Please feel free to remind my in a few weeks if you have not seen anothe post.
Cheers Cliff
 
HAND CONTROL

Hi everybody,
I know last post here is of 2007, I hope someone still read and maybe help: I am also a paraplegic and I am starting to build a RV-7 :)

I am already in touch with Carl Hay, who gave me all the support he could...but searching for all possibility before starting to draw my HC and 'adaptations' to the plane for a better accessibility I noticed this post and read about Cliff (TEAM RV8) adaptations and wow they are really close to my ideas...and I would like to contact him to have more details...
I tried via e-mail and private message through VAF Forum, but no answer, maybe he's not anymore around here...anybody knows how to get in touch with him?

Also if someone's else fitted his RV with HC I would like to share knowledge...

Cheers from Italy, thanks in advance!
Alex

[email protected]
 
H iAlex

I have a friend who lost his lower left leg and has already installed handbrakes in his soon-to-fly -7A. Here
2dwaij9.jpg


The handbrakes are plumbed to the passenger brakes and then to the pilot side brakes.

He also has a stirrup on his right pedal that he can pull backward for left rudder.
Regards,
 
I saw an episode of Monster Garage where they built a hand control that may work.

In the first place, it worked like a joystick left to right, steering. Second, pulling back on the stick would apply braking. Third, twisting the hand grip would bias the brakes. It was a rod-in-tube design.

In the case of an aircraft, the tube would be the attach point for the rudder cables. Running through and sticking out the end of the tube would be a rod with a "tee". Each end of the tee attached to a cylinder. The cylinders were laid out in a shifting parallelogram so that lateral movement of the stick did not actuate the brakes as long as the stick was allowed to shift fore and aft some. Ball joints at both ends of the cylinders.

Not sure you'd be able to put enough pressure on just one brake with twisting action.

It worked pretty well for the crazy double-snowmobile ATV thing they had build.

Wish I could remember more details.

Forrest
 
Thanks Pierre, I noticed your friend's solution in another post also, it's interesting even if not suitable for me. I got contact today with Cliff, and I will post my proceedings...
Thanks and hello everybody
Alessandro
 
A little late but...

I moved from a Liberty XL-2 (certified with finger brakes) to an RV-7A. We just built these. We've got to play with the geometry a bit such that braking force is sufficient, but not such that the brakes will lock up.

https://imgur.com/a/GxTwKph

The mechanism fits between the seats and is easily operable with the right hand. I''ll ad some finger knobs at right angles to the levers, then anodize for a nice finish. Steel brake lines will run back and behind the seats then up front. We'll likely relocate the brake reservoir to keep the system tight.

This solves the brakes issue, which is all I need, but I can think of a couple ways to handle the rudder pedals for someone who needs that as well.

Incidentally, this was all done in Solidworks and cut on a CNC mill, so it's easy to duplicate. Everything we didn't cut is off the shelf, though we still have to order custom brake lines, once everything is fixed in place.
 
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I moved from a Liberty XL-2 (certified with finger brakes) to an RV-7A. We just built these. We've got to play with the geometry a bit such that braking force is sufficient, but not such that the brakes will lock up.

http://https://imgur.com/a/GxTwKph

The mechanism fits between the seats and is easily operable with the right hand. I''ll ad some finger knobs at right angles to the levers, then anodize for a nice finish. Steel brake lines will run back and behind the seats then up front. We'll likely relocate the brake reservoir to keep the system tight.

This solves the brakes issue, which is all I need, but I can think of a couple ways to handle the rudder pedals for someone who needs that as well.

Incidentally, this was all done in Solidworks and cut on a CNC mill, so it's easy to duplicate. Everything we didn't cut is off the shelf, though we still have to order custom brake lines, once everything is fixed in place.
Looks nice - small typo in the URL - https://imgur.com/a/GxTwKph
 
I know there was a paraplegic pilot that flew airshows in a clipt wing Super Cub.
Used a closed loop rudder cable with it's handle on the left side of the cockpit with a motorcycle twist throttle and a motorcycle brake handle on each stick for differential braking.
John Mac? CRS is bad.
 
My son is a quadriplegic and got his light sport pilots license through an organization called Ableflight. I equipped an RV-12 with hand controls so he could fly solo and take friends for rides. He has about 350hrs flying all over the SE US. I haven't figured out how to post pics here but if you will send me an e-mail address I will send pics of my son's set up. [email protected]
 
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