Step 10.5, Elevator push tube

There are a lot of odds and ends that need doing as I near the completion of the fuselage.  I feel some pressure to get these things done quickly so that I will be ready when the 4th and final kit arrives.  First, I need to thread the rudder cables through the snap rings in the bulkheads from the tail all the way up to the rudder pedals.

Right away I find that the cable ends will not fit through the snap rings.  This is just the kind of thing that annoys a builder with time pressures.  Well fortunately, the internet comes to the rescue once again.  I discover that the proper response to this calamity is to squeeze the snap ring into an oval shape big enough to pass the cable end.  Oh, Ok.

Then I go on to the elevator push tubes.  The push tubes connect the control column to the elevator.  There are two tubes in a linkage that runs under the seats then under the baggage compartment and then on to the tail.  The elevator bell crank which is just behind the baggage compartment, connects the two tubes in the middle.  The bell crank reverses the linear direction to the first tube so that when the second tube is connected to the elevator it's pushing and pulling in the right direction.  The second function of the bell crank is to change the geometry of the tube such that it is offset from the tail cone floor which is tapering upward toward the tail.

The push tubes are just aluminum tubes with end fittings for connecting the ball-end bearings.  The first step is to drill six evenly spaced holes around the circumference.  I used masking tape to measure the hole spacing and then wrap the tape around before drilling.

Before riveting the ends on, the inside of the tubes are coated with primer and allowed to dry.

 Now the big push tube.  Same procedure as the first, but this one has eight holes on each end.

A trip the the paint booth and the big push tube is ready.

Here is the bell crank with the small tube that runs along the floor already attached.

And here is the second tube connected to the top of the bell crank.

And there is goes all the way to the tail.

The big push tube connected to the elevators.

Finally, I bought some fairings for the rudder cable where it exits at the tail.  They come almost ready to go.  Just clean up the edges and measure out the rivet spacing.  The bottom row is too close to the J-stringer to get a bucking bar in place.  Rather than fight with it I'll just use flush pull rivets on that row.  That's the rudder control cable exiting the fairing to the right.

Next time I'll be test fitting the horizontal and vertical stabilizers.