Savannah airleron assembly question

[Bodie]

Hi again folks.  First off, thanks to you all for bearing with me.  I appreciate all the helpful folks on this forum.  I can't seem to decipher the manual, the parts list or find that the question has been previously raised on this forum.  How is the bracket held on the the protruding bolt inside this tube?  I also notice that the bolt is drilled for a cotter pin.  Thanks all!  -steve

[IBob]

Hi Bodie. It's not held on. The bolt, which is welded at it's head onto it's backing plate (SF341), acts as a pivot point, and that is all.

 

(When you assemble the inner flaperon/s to the wings, they pivot on the wing hangers, and this maintains the lateral position of the flaperons. The lever SS410/411 is then bolted to the inboard end of the flaperon with the 3bolts shown. So no nut or other hardware is required on SF341.)

 

It's a good idea to  make sure the steelwork SS410/411 is well primed, especially inside the tubular part of it, as this is an area that may corrode.

[Bodie]

Thank you, I was beginning to lose confidence in my self!  Here I am with fuse built, tail feathers built, wings built, engine installed, and losing faith that I've done anything right!  It seems that would be a nice bit of info to have, and if it is in the manual I surely couldn't find it.....  Thanks again.  -steve

[IBob]

I asked the same question at that stage too, Steve.

It's a great aircraft.

But we all have our moments with the manual, believe me!

[Bodie]

I've been giving this aileron pivot a bit of thought (maybe to the point of over-analyzing it!) and I just don't like a metal edge on a bolt.  I'm thinking of machining a round piece of plastic 15mm or so in depth and pressing it into the hole and drilling it to the dimension of the bolt for more bearing surface.  Has anyone looked at one of these with some hours on it, and is the wear acceptable?  I'm wondering what Kyle Communications saw on his re-build...  Thoughts?

[IBob]

Bodie, I think I'm right in saying that the VG Savannah (and the Zenith 701 before it) have no pivot point there at all.

The way it works is the (inboard) flaperon is a rigid unit that pivots on it's two wing hangars. Those are the aileron pivots doing all the work, not that inboard pivot.

 

More important is to set those flaperon to wing hanger pivots up correctly: nip them up tight, then back them off until they are just loose before inserting the splitpin. Then check them again after a few hours, they want to be a snug as possible , but still rotate freely. This way you avoid the wear at that point that some builders seem to experience.

[Bodie]

Thanks for your patience.  I get what your saying now.  The bolts is just for initial alignment, and the bracket is really just an extension of the aileron rather than the aileron being an extension of the bracket.  I was thinking about it bass-ackwards!  -steve 

[IBob]

Steve, someone here may correct me, and I'm happy to know if I've got it wrong. But I'm pretty confident I've got that right.

 

As for the little brass bearings in the hangers, some folk get a lot of wear there, and there are various upsized replacement schemes. But I'm pretty sure the wear comes from having them too loose: it is the relative tightness that prevents the bearing tilting. I have 130hrs on my S now, with no detectable wear to those bearings. A VG on the field has 800+hrs, also with no significant wear.