Bede BD-4C Controls Done!

I am finished working on the controls for my Bede BD-4C airplane! (At least for awhile.) The last month has seen a bunch of fiddly little stuff that has been hard to photograph so I have not posted anything. Tonight, I finally wrapped up the controls. The rudder pedals are hooked up to the rudder. The control sticks are hooked up to the pivot for the horizontal stabilator. The trim cable for the stabilator is installed. The Quadraflex control lever for the trim cable is installed and hooked up. The entire tunnel is built and installed. The brake lines are cut to length and set into position, though not hooked up.

I am thoroughly ready to move on to something other than controls! Next up: building the ailerons and flaps and attaching them to the trailing edges of the wings. Once those jobs are done, I get to come back to the controls and build the aileron and flap controls.

I do, of course, have a few photos for you. You can click on any picture to see a larger version.

I wrote in Designing with U-Type Tinnerman Nuts that I was planning to use Tinnerman nuts to attach the tunnel tops to the walls. Here is a shot of the rear tunnel walls, with the Tinnerman nuts along the top. I set them 4 inches apart.

The new design for the BD-4C horizontal stabilator trim is a long cable (think bicycle brake cable but 20 feet long). The control in the cabin is a Quadraflex lever. It looks like it is bolted to the left, forward tunnel wall in this photo but there is a very sturdy brace on the other side of the wall that is actually carrying the load. You can see the trim cable along the bottom of the photo.

This photo shows the forward tunnel of my Bede BD-4C airplane from the left side. You can see the brace for the Quadraflex in the middle.

This shot, from the front of the plane looking aft shows the forward tunnel, the gear box (not yet closed up) and the rear tunnel. The bit of round tube that you can see inside the gear box is the push-pull tube for the horizontal stabilator. The cables next to the push-pull tube are the rudder cables.

Assembling the rudder pedal return springs and routing the brake lines proved to be quite a challenge. It took me several tries to get the brake lines run through places that would not rub on the springs and would not rub on the landing gear inside the nose gear box. I also had to modify both of the springs to get tension that I liked. Here is a close-up of the rudder pedal return springs and the brake lines, at the front of the tunnel.

Now that I need to attach the ailerons and flaps to the wings, I need more than half of a two-car garage so it’s time for our Fiat 500 to move outside. 🙁 Thank you, Candy, for graciously agreeing to this!

If you are in the St. Peters, Missouri area and want to help carry BD-4C wings out of my basement and into the garage some evening this week, please let me know.