Original Posted By: Jeff Boatright
We have only a few more hours to fly off on the Pietenpol. Then off to Brodheadon Thursday. I have been wrestling with the right-rudder-needing- to-be-heldproblem now for 36 or so flight hours. The answer was still elusive until today.My leg was cramping from always having to hold right rudder. Anyway, Ifly today from Stanton down to Faribault and notice that Cliff Hatz was downbelow so now knowing I could get a start when it was time to leave, I electedto land and chat with him. While there, I decided I would grab the tiedown kit,folding chair, and pillow from the Cessna 140 as I would need the stuff atBrodhead. I wedged the pillow down to the left of the stick assembly in the frontcockpit and then folded the left rudder pedal aft and put the chair downon the pillow fore and aft with one end at the firewall and the other end justforward of full extension on the left rudder input for the aft cockpit's rudderbar. I took off and there was no need to hold right rudder. Like magic, theneed to hold it disappeared.I then flew over to Stanton and started to unload. And then I found them. Dalehad put springs between the front cockpit's rudder pedals and the firewall.They were incredibly big too. No wonder! As it turns out, he sized them tomatch the size of spring normally found between the rudder and the tailwheel arms!Yikes!We disconnected the cables between the rudder bar and the front rudder pedals andthere must have been a 5 pound pull on the cable due to the spring.Could you imagine if one rudder cable broke or otherwise became disconnected? You would have had a hard over rudder with no way for it to aerodynamically streamlineitself. Yikes! I told him "no springs at all". I should have lookedsooner. I am embarrassed! Chris________________________________________________________________________________Date: Tue, 19 Jul 2005 22:23:42 -0400
Pietenpol-List: Rudder issue appears solved
RE: Pietenpol-List: Rudder issue appears solved
Original Posted By: "Phillips, Jack"