• If You Are Having Trouble Logging In with Your Old Username and Password, Please use this Forgot Your Password link to get re-established.
  • Hey! Be sure to login or register!

Tail Brace Wires (again!!)

Philly5G

Registered User
England
OK, with the help of other threads such as http://www.supercub.org/forum/showthread.php?44801-Tail-brace-wire-assembly I've now refurbished and re-setup my tail brace wires (1/2" movement at 14lbs pull) :) They were in a very sorry state and with the aid of 4 new brass nipples from Univair, lots of cleaning and repainting and some locally sourced hardware, they now look as good as new!! I made up the 4 bushings (.160" long) from 4130 tube and the horizontal clevises now swivel with the wire in trim changes and with no vertical movement :)

As this was basically a 2 day job and the biggest problem was getting the locking nuts off and I had to saw through 6 of the 8 as they were so corroded/gummed on :( I'm keen to keep everything clean and easy to adjust/remove, as once the locking nuts were off, the nipples rotated easily on the wires DESPITE the masses of crud on them!! I want to keep the brass look and will be oiling them often, but how do others protect the locking nuts and the threads they leave exposed? I'm thinking about some kind of rubber boots, or maybe just electrical taping over them, but I'd be very keen to hear what works well for others, particularly in the harsh conditions some of you guys fly in :)

Thanks!

Philly
 

Attachments

  • A2yqbItqQnWcE9DWeU3eEA.jpg
    A2yqbItqQnWcE9DWeU3eEA.jpg
    53.4 KB · Views: 208
  • edm89VmMQz2my2kRrRq6zA.jpg
    edm89VmMQz2my2kRrRq6zA.jpg
    72.9 KB · Views: 164
  • ORbT1GAmQLWvqH9HCqKxRQ.jpg
    ORbT1GAmQLWvqH9HCqKxRQ.jpg
    74.1 KB · Views: 162
Thanks for this, I guess this would stop the corrosion, but will they still loosen if the threads get bunged up? and do you mean just the normal nuts, or stiff/lock nuts?

Normal nuts, treated just like the standard.
Threads won’t rust; which is the cause of damage to the brass when you try to remove them years later.
 
I've got some wires that came with my project, they're painted. I know I should check for knicks and rust, what else should I check for on the wires?
 
My Cub is stored indoors. Wires are carbon steel, and would rust if I let them. Oil has worked for me for a half century, but Par-Al-Ketone would do. Or a coating of grease. If you use oil, it gets done at 25 hours/3 months, like the hinges.

The Stearman clevises are all cad plated steel, but after a while rust starts to show through. I just spent 20 minutes smearing a light coat of junk grease on them - it will probably last for six months of daily flying. Only other cure is paint (probably last six months) or re-cad plate (thousands of dollars for the mechanic to re-learn rigging, etc).
 
I've got some wires that came with my project, they're painted. I know I should check for knicks and rust, what else should I check for on the wires?

My wires are stainless, but were semi painted. I scraped the paint off with a piece of aluminium as softer than the wires. I cleaned them up with very fine wet and dry and then scotchbrite. We looked at them through a magnifying glass, both before and after and just a tiny bit of surface corrosion, which the above treatment removed.

Don’t know what else to check on the wires, but the bushings in the horizontal clevises and the square washers on the top vertical clevises I now know are very important to have :)


Sent from my iPhone using SuperCub.Org mobile app
 
Back
Top