The second bit of rework was to improve the freedom of movement of the rudder pedals. Originally these were mounted as per the Wittman drawings using tubing welded to the fuselage longerons to support the ends of the pedal torque bars and a third support welded to one of the fuselage diagonals. The issue is that the centre bearing can only be welded to the fuselage
diagonal after the pedals are in place and it is very difficult to do this without creating some degree of binding on the left pedal torque tube which is what had happened.The solution was to cut off the three existing mounts and replace these with 0.071" 4130 sheet fabricated to support 16mm Delrin (acetal) blocks. The side plates were welded to the inside of the lower fuselage longerons. The centre one was welded on top of the lower diagonal and brake support tubes. The Delrin blocks were drilled at the requisite angle to provided the bearings for the torque tubes. As can be seen in the picture, the right hand mount was fabricated in a "U" shape to allow the rudder torque tube to be lifted out from that side and then slid out of the left hand mount. The centre Delrin support was made in two halves for easy removal. The bolts in the picture are temporary and will be replaced with machine screws countersunk into the Delrin to allow the fuselage sides to fit flat.
This approach of using Delrin blocks for the rudder torque tube mounts exactly mirrors the standard practice in the Vans RV range of aircraft.
Together the changes have much improved the freedom of movement of the rudder pedals as well as allowing them to be removed if necessary.
