Humpty Dumpty - Part 2, time to get those parts back in!

Now that the main pneumatic tubing has been installed, and the wiring trunk for the batteries and the speaker was pulled, it's time to get hardware re-installed.

It was a joy installing the rudder yoke.

I found that the new battery box was just wide enough to prevent the top bracket support from aligning with the holes in the wheel well sides. I had to grind away a notch on both sides to allow the top bracket to mate up with the holes. The box was mounted on the same ledge as the original, but I did not notice that the brackets, when installed went up on both sides of the battery box.  

Fortunately, the bottom of the box was extra thick, and I didn't have to cut into opening.

After the brackets were mounted, I installed the yoke. There was no vertical play in the bearing, and no room for shims or washers, with the exception for the washer needed for the nut.

I attached the push rod for the rudder to the yoke, and found that it was binding through the full range of motion. While the yoke and mounts aligning to there original positions, the rudder push rod seems to require a slight uplift to attach it to the yoke arm. This will require an inspection from Robert before the flight tests.

During the motion range testing, I noticed that the nylon wheels that the push rod travels on were not moving, and that the rod was just sliding over them. Using a long tube, I was able to get them freed up by applying a fine silicon fluid in the bearings of the nylon wheels. After the wheels were able to rotate, the push rod moves better now. Is there a better lubrication for them? They sit about four feet into the fuselage, and out of reach to get at them without using a long straw!

I was ready to install the main gear struts and arm. I painted the gear well white to seal the fiberglass from oil grease and dirt.

When it came time to but the struts in, I found that the forward shims were too tight due to the coat of paint near the openings. This required some cleanup before the struts would fit in place.

I had to install the main wheel back on the struts.

It has been two years since these parts were together.

Back inside, there were two parts that needed to be installed to help prevent the strut rods from falling out. The rear strut rod is secured by two bolts mounted through the strut and rod in the wheel well. Also the actuator arm was bolted in.

The forward strut rod is secured by a heavy washer and cotter pin attachment through a hole drilled through the end of the rod... Funny, I never removed this from my bird when I was taking the gear apart!?!?!?

How long were these parts missing?

I was able to see what parts were missing after inspecting a Libelle at Roberts shop!

I found the parts needed at the hardware shop, and they were approved to be used.

It would have been a bad day for someone landing this glider if that rod slipped in the gear shaft by just an inch or two.

As part of an AD note, there were two rudder yoke stops that needed to be mounted to the outside of the gear well wall.

These parts were installed per TN 201-15

The gear and aileron actuators were installed. These parts needed to be jockeyed around when the push rods were installed.  

The bolts are a tight fit when it comes time to inserting them into the bearings.


I'm sure the stream of obscenities are still hovering over the skies of Edgewood after my ordeal with installing them!

During the install, I found that the Capacity flask was too close to the actuation of the main gear push rod. I had to pop off the holds and move them a little further aft of their original mounting location.

The aileron actuator lever was also a tight fit.

The stick, airbrake handle-rod and landing gear handle-rod were ready to be installed next.

For the most part, the stick installation was straight forward, although, some of the bolts needed to be inserted into the bearings and rods before the stick and the housing were reseated on the tray. I wrapped plastic around the handle to prevent damaging it.

The plastic tubing used to shield the steel cables for the rudder pedal adjustment, and the tow release, needed to be pre-fitted before the final installation.

The final push rods were installed to complete this stage.

Last but not least, the airbrake and landing gear handles and rods were installed.

I wrapped plastic on the handles to protect them.

The steel cables were pulled though the center column support for the rudder pedal adjustment and the tow release. I then feed the brake cable into the handle on the stick.

The landing gear rod was installed to the linkage, and tested. The over-center adjustments will be checked by Robert before the glider can be signed off. 

The final attachements are the aileron linkages,

and the airbrake actuator.



The air brake actuator rod will be installed after painting, I don't want to damage the paint on this part before we start flying the glider.

All of these parts will need to be adjusted at the shop when we can finally test fit the wings and control surfaces.

With the majority of the inner connection completed, the Insturment panel finished, the next post on this sub-topic will cover the electrical wiring connections, speaker, PPT button and the microphone.

But this will need to wait a bit longer... The weather here has given me a break to start on building the new fiberglass trailer top!

Yet, another nightmare is just begining!