ORIGINAL: wsmalley
I have noticed the amount of throw does seem to be pretty extensive-working it strictly by hand at this point. What kind of throw do you think will be required? I will next work on the 'tunnel' thingy under the rudder which houses the actuator, to see if the movement is what I think it should be- that is, if it will all fit and work properly. That's the full scale way which uses a hydraulic cylinder. The "Ram-K" DVD I mentioned shows the preflight movement to be about 40-45 degrees movement up and down, but very small movements to actually rotate or roll the plane. Leather huh, hadn't thought of that. The sandpaper was only a test, 'til I came up with something better.
I checked the angular offset for our kit's recommended throws. Measuring the elevon control arrangement which would use the most throw when full aileron is mixed with full elevator, it rotates 28.5 degrees at what would be full-up elevator and full aileron deflection and a few degrees less at full-down elevator and full opposite aileron at high rates and just over 19 degrees at low rate.
This is with the CG at 25% MAC and the model is very controllable and comfortable to fly without being overly sensitive. Other than having a great deal more inertia to deal with from a much larger model, I wouldn't imagine you'd need more control throw than this. At the very least, this gives you a good starting point.
Reflecting on it a little more, leather has a couple of problems. First, it would probably get 'grabby' if it got wet. It also swells when it gets wet. (Eww...) Maybe some nomex paper would work better. I'm sure you'll find something suitable.
Dan