I'm getting to the stage of needing to accomplish many small tasks and a few big ones. I still need to build the tail feathers, though I've been waiting in case I come across any Piper parts that are cheap. Still, I don't expect it to take very long to build them but it needs to be done. I also need to finish the gear. I'll probably wait on the wing attach until I start on the wings but I'm still on the fence about that. There are several gussets, pulley mounts and finish welds that I need to do and I'll get to those as I can.

I decided to finish up the control wheel, at least as far as I could without the actual control wheel in hand. I purchased a sprocket and hub from a local farm store. The hub is a keyed hub with a 5/8th's shaft hole. The key way is not needed and the thing is way over built for what we need but it fits well and is machined so that the sprocket can be slid on and welded to it. Here, I am drilling a 1/4" hole for the bolt. I drilled it a little undersized (C drill or .242") and then reamed it to exactly .250". Standard AN bolts are a tad under size and this is a good mix of being tight but not being hard to install. If it turns out to have too much play, I can always go to a close tolerance bolt which is a few thousandths bigger than a standard AN bolt.

Here is the sprocket welded on. I used my MIG welder for this as it is much faster and easier to use. I'm not great at MIG but it is good penetration and should hold more than the chain will. The sprocket is for a #35 chain. The #40 chain just looked way too big and it's not specified in the plans. The tensile strength is at least 1758 lbs while the #40 is 3125 lbs. The working strength is much lower but that is for large loads at fairly high , continuous rotational speed. We are essentially using them in a static type situation so one would expect to get the full tensile strength out of the chain. Also, this chain seems in line with what small Cessna's and Piper's use but to be honest, I haven't actually measured those so take that comment with a grain of salt.

The plans show the control wheel mount welded on the end of the shaft. I wanted a little bearing surface so I mounted the attaching disk on a piece of 3/4" x .058 tube and this will slip over the shaft and get a bolt through it.

Once I welded the square 1/8" thick disk to the tube I chucked it in the lathe and turned it so it would be round and concentric as well as 2" in diameter per the plans. I also faced the end to clean off the weld scale. This did cost me about .003" of material thickness but I think it'll still be plenty strong.

It's all put together, clamped in the vise and drill/reamed for a 1/4" bolt. Since I clamped it tightly before I drilled and reamed, this leaves it too tight on the bushing to turn freely. This is intended as I can now file about .001" off of one end of the bushing on the control stick and have a freely rotating but no slop connection.

Here it is installed. I still haven't decided if I'm going to add dual controls. I hate to add the weight because a lighter weight plane flies so much better. My friend Gary Angelo calls me "Maximum Mac" because I've always been somewhat obsessive about weight control while building my aerobatic airplanes. I even had one of, if not the lightest Challenger 2 long wing ultralights and that thing would get off the ground in 2 car lengths. It flew fantastic because I sweated about every ounce that went into it. Of course, it's much easier and cheaper for me to go on a diet than to obsess about a pound or two here and there but it all adds up!

The rudders are installed. The plans have you using 5/8" x .035" tube in the rudder pedal bushings and the bushings that are welded on to the fuselage. You then place a 1/2" tube as the shaft. The inside diameter of a 5/8" x .035" tube is .555" and this is way to sloppy even with some distortion from welding. I think .049" wall tubing would have been better. .058" is the size we should use, but there is significant weld scale and distortion so I think the .049" would work better. This is just for the bushings in the pedal and on the fuselage. I may need to make a slight oversized shaft/pin for mine. I'll see how sloppy it is when I get the control cables hooked up.

Overhead shot-note that I have added the gussets to the front. Of course this distorts the receiver even more and will require more clean up work.

Here is the inner landing gear mount that I built on the bench. It was a simple job to grind on it a little to get a good fit and then weld it on the fuselage. This way, I know that the holes are aligned and it is spaced properly.