Rudder Peddles and Toe Brakes
Installation
Toe Brakes are the Best!
The rudder peddles and toe brakes can be installed anytime after the keel is installed; however, it's much easier if done before the fuselage top is in place. I used it as another task to work on between other tasks, but as always I'm presenting these tasks in the order they are finished.
First up, as with all these mechanical assemblies, was to find all the parts and temp them together. Putting the parts together was just a matter of assembling everything according to the instructions.
My drill press was the perfect place to clamp the assembly together and assemble it all.
Unfortunately, one peddle's toe brake was not working...
Apparently this peddle arm was made defective, notice the taper at the top, this caused the mounting bracket to be at an angle, which caused it to bind up and the brake would not work. Fortunately, there was a simple fix of using an extra washer to shim it to the correct dimension.
While the fix was simple, I'm starting to wonder if I'll be able to get through any more tasks without issues with parts or factory errors...
But wait, there's more!...
While not a structural issue, their parts supplier really sucks on quality. This gouge came preinstalled for me on another one of the peddles.
With the assembly all working I could test fit it in the plane.
While the peddles look like they are installed, they are just resting on the top of the keel to test fit them.
In order to get the rudder peddle assembly resting at the required height, I used a piece of plywood and some scrap fiberglass pieces. I then used two large clamps to hold it in place once it was level.
To make the holes for the mounting brackets, I covered the top holes with the clamps, but left the bottom holes clear, so once I was satisfied with the location of everything, I drilled small pilot holes right through the brackets with everything still in place, then drilled the full size holes from the back. This way nothing could move and the holes would be perfectly were I wanted them.
Here's the bottom bolt installed with the clamp still in place over the top hole.
Next, I bolted the bottom holes of the brackets so I could remove the clamps and install the top bolts the same way; only this time the bottom bolts were holding the system in place instead of the clamps.
With the peddle assembly installed, it was time to install the bell crank, so the rudders worked opposite each other. Older Velocities, without toe brakes, could use both rudders at the same time; however, that wouldn't really work with toe brakes, so now the rudder peddles are linked like a traditional aircraft.
Installing the bell crank mounting bracket was just drilling a few holes, as specified in the manual, and bolting it on.
I don't think I needed to be this accurate with the mounting bolt installation, but I prefer to practice precision whenever possible.
Next was attaching the peddles to the bell crank. To do this the push rods attaching the bell crank would have to be adjusted to the right length.
I cut a piece of PVC pipe to the correct length to hold the rudder peddle arm in the centered position, so I could get the push rod to the matching length.
The center of the bell crank came out to exactly 2.0".
So all I had to do was screw the push rod ends on till it stuck out exactly 2" also.
The holes for the push rods were not quite centered once installed, so a little fitting was required so it wouldn't bind up at all.
With both push rods installed, the system was completely temped in and working!
Final temp in of the rudder peddle assembly with function testing complete.
Now to do something about the finish of the metal parts.
While powder coating would have been preferred, I found a coat of zinc primer and gloss black rattle can paint did just fine.
Painted and reinstalled the peddle assembly looks much better!
Now for a home modification...
On the Velocity forum, lots of people talk about the discomfort of a rush of air entering the passenger compartment when the landing gear are lowered, due to the gear doors opening up. One place this air enters is the holes I just put in the front bulkhead for the rudder peddles. So I came up with encapsulating them in a fiberglass box. This only works for my plan to not install the oil cooler in the nose, due to planning to power the aircraft with a turboprop, instead of the standard piston engine. I wasn't sad about not piping scalding hot oil through the passenger compartment anyway!
I took measurements and decided to cut out a piece of Styrofoam to size.
I then covered the styrofoam in foil tape, so I could use it as a mold, and not have the fiberglass stick to it.
I then used that old front gear attachment bolt I beat up and hot glued it to a piece of plywood to make a stand for my mold.
Just a single layer of BID fiberglass at this point, as the shape is not done yet.
Due to my limitations on measuring and then cutting out styrofoam, I limited my mold to a simple rectangular box; however, the final shape was not so square.
I cut down the two top corners so the top became a moveable flap, and began working the piece into place.
Once satisfied I put some small fiberglass patches to hold it's shape. Then when the shape was finalized, I put some more layers of fiberglass on till I was satisfied it was strong enough.
Next I used the same method of creating a mounting flange, as used previously on the lower cowling.
Once again I used foil tape to prevent the flange from sticking, this time to the front bulkhead its self. Then I used popsicle sticks to hold it in place while I put a first layer of fiberglass on the flange. Once that dried, I went back and reinforced the flange with more fiberglass as a solid strip all the way around the box.
Here I placed nut plates upside down to locate where to drill the bolt holes and mounting holes.
I then lined up the cover to put corresponding holes in it. One nut plate had to be installed onto the cover, due to it being to hard to get to the side against the fuselage skin. This will mean it has to be removed from both inside and outside the passenger compartment; however, I don't see really needing to do it much, if ever, so I was satisfied.
The final weather proofing box in place and ready for service.
I could have created a much tighter fitting box, which would work with the oil cooler and cabin heat system, but since I wasn't using those, I just went for a simple oversized box, so I didn't have to do too much engineering.
Besides just keeping out air while taking off and landing, it should also keep the bell crank and pushrods clean and dry while taxiing.