Simple question this time, cutting the piano hinge for the vertical stab. I suppose you’re supposed to take the hinge wire out first and cut that a bit longer so that you can curve it at the ends to lock it in?
1 Like
Sounds right to me.
As I recall, the plans call for cotter pins top and bottom to retain the hinge pin. That’s what I’ve done.
Art, Sonex taildragger #95, Jabiru 3300 #261
That’s the way mine is put together. Maintaining a Sonex built by someone else feels like an exercise in archeology. They are itsy bitsy cotter pins.
I am concerned about eventually losing a hinge wire while removing and reinstalling the cowl. Google believes the pins at Aircraft Spruce are the right diameter (0.089”).
Can you get a picture of how that’s done? Having a little trouble imagining how that looks in my mind.
The details will be in the plans. Different pins have different retentions. On my Waiex I have little cotter pins on the flaps & ailerons. The mini-rudder has a pin bent 90 on one side and it is safetied in. My ruddervators have a 90 degree bend on the top and a slight bend on the bottom, plus the tail tip keeps it from moving up.
Definitely make sure you find the detail on the plans page and follow the plans! For everything! Should be no guessing.
IIRC some of the hinge pins and holes for the cotter pins are on later drawings on my Sonex plans. I didn’t cut any of the hinge pins for the control surfaces until right before installing them. For test fitting it was lot easier to use a long piece so there’s something to grab on to when removing it.
I’ve been putting off drilling the holes for the cotter pins as I figure it’s one of those things where you practice the technique and do them all at once so you don’t have to relearn later on. Is there a good method or tool for drilling the cotter pin holes?
It’s not a hard task, or a critical hole. Drill them with the surfaces installed. If you can get the drill in and out, you can get the cotter pin in and out.
Thanks, but I’m looking at the plans now and they don’t seem all that clear on the specifics. All I’m getting from this drawing is that there is a cotter pin and it goes somewhere. Am I missing something reading this?
The pin is shorter than the hinge. On the loop near the edge, a hole is drilled. The cotter pin prevents the pin from migrating out. I’ll take a picture when I can, unless someone has one handy.