Hey guys,

I'm hoping that you verteran ARF'ers can give a noobie a hand here.

I'm assembeling my Kadet Arf, and have run into a problem with the aileron torque rods.

On one wing panel, the rod moves freely, and with what I'm assuming is a good range. But the other feels like it too tight, doesn't move very easily, one would almost say its "stagey", and it doesn't move with as much range as the other.

Since this is an ARF and the wing is covered, what can I do to correct this? I don't want to assemble it and find out that the servo is getting trashed because of the sticky torque rod.

Any suggestions would be very appreciated right now. The weather is warming up, and I want to get to the field with as few problems as I can.

Thanks

I am assuming that the torque rods were already installed as part of the ARF. Probably what has happened is that whomever assembled it got some glue on the the torque rod, and that is causing the binding. You might try dripping a very small amount of acetone down the tube and work it back and forth. This suggestion is given assuming you do not have any binding due to interferance of any sort.

Vince

Din..


Make sure opening for torque rods are clear and open all the way
even where the rod piviots within wing...
Make sure there is no glue in hinge area where aileron and wing
meet from where they glued hinges and used too much glue..

Robby

Thanks for the tips guys,

The ailerons aren't installed on the wings yet, nor are the wing panels joined together.

I caught the problem while doing a test fit to make sure things were all ok. I'll make those checks you suggested and see what I come up with.

Any more ideas?

Auger

Hideho Pal,

Yup, heres a tip...work it, work it, work it back and forth, full deflection, and as you do, you'll notice it gets easier.
Don't be afraid to get out the xacto and relive a little binding here and there.

Good luck, you made a nice choice in a plane there, too.

Thanks for the tips guys,

I've been working the aileron torque rod back and forth, and generally investigating the problem, and have come up with what I think are the primary problems here.

First...the covering material only has a ragged hole poked in it to provide for the rod's exit from the wing. So I've opened up the holes on both wing panels into more of a slot.

Which led me to the second....that there wasn't enough material removed from the wing sheeting to allow for the proper movement. Again, it looks as though just a hole was provided rather than a slotted opening. So I am using a knife to carefully remove the stock to allow it to move more freely.

The problem with the tight movement isn't so obvious though. I can't see into the area well enough to tell if there is glue or just excess material binding it.

Wish me luck.....

Auger