grunde

I am looking to finish my Ultra Stick 60 that has been gathering dust in the garage for the last year.

I am wanting to mount the rudder and elevator servo's at the rear of the fuse but am unsure what type of pushrods to use.
Would 2 12" 4-40 pushrod's work and then use threaded ball link to connect the pushrod to the servo:
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXK090&P=0

Then just use a steel clevis to attach the other pushrod end to the control horn?

How much reinforcement needs to be done to screw the servo to the fuse? I was planning on epoxying in some light ply to screw into....

Any help would be appreciated for this newbie builder!!

Geardaddys

Grunde,

I have the same plane with servos in the rear.. I'll snap some pics for you.. The 4-40 pushrods will work great.. If you have even a little bit of soldering skills I'd get a few 12-18 inch length pushrods with threads on one end.. Get a few solder on clevis for one end the end without the threads..

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXK085&P=7

Then get regular 4-40 screw in clevises (spelling is not my thing!) for the threaded end..

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXK079&P=ML

As far as reinforcing with some ply, that is probably a good idea.. A friend taught me a cool trick that works very well and allows you to skip the ply if you are so inclined.. Get a length of "nyrod" from your LHS.. It is a plastic tube that has splines running the lenth of it. Cut your hole in the fuse for your servo, and then mark/drill pilot holes for the servo screws. Remove your servo and enlarge the holes that you just drilled with a larger bit (not much). Now get your Nyrod and cut some short lengths (maybe 1/4 -1/2 inch) and CA them into the pilot holes.. Now your servo screws can go into the nyrod and will be nice and tight.. The plastic will keep them in there forever. Mine have been in for 2 years now and have not budged.. This will give you a bit of a cleaner looking install rather than having a plywood frame around your servo..

Nyrod:

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXFU95&P=M


All you would use from the above is the actual yellow tube.. I'd stay away from the ball link for control surfaces. I've seen them used on throttles a good bit, but you have much less of a chance of the steel clevis coming "undone" than that ball link popping off..

Good luck!

Consider upgrading your tailwheel while you are at it.. Sullivan 6-12lb in the pics..

grunde

Do you like the solder on clevis's? Use those for the aileron servo's too?? I was planning on just using some 2-56 rods with the GP screw lock connectors for the ailerons:
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXK099&P=0

How about using the GP Screw lock connectors for connecting the pushrods to the servo for the elevator/servo.

I have never done much soldering......

Geardaddys

Yes, I do like the solder on connectors.. It is very easy to do. I've never seen anyone use the screw lock connectors for a flight control surface.. I wouldn't use them.. If the back comes off of that connector, you will be picking up pieces.. Depending on what motor you are using the US 60 can get cooking pretty good and the air loads on the control surfaces are substantial.. I wouldn't want to depend on those connectors.. They are great for throttle connections where there is not much resistance.

Get yourself a bag of solder clevises and do some practice.. Rough up the end where the clevis will go with some sandpaper, put the clevis on and then "tin" your solder iron, put the tip of the iron on the connection and heat.. add solder.. if you do it right the solder will "wick" into the clevis and bond them..

Here is a link that explains the process better than I can from MinnFlyer

http://www.rcuniverse.com/magazine/a...article_id=172

Do a few practice ones and you'll be in good shape.. It works a lot better than trying to use z bends at the servo..

CGRetired

My Feedback: (1)

Yeah, that picture within Minn's documentary shows it best for doing metal-to-metal (versus wire to metal, although the technique is the same) solder connections. Heat up the 'sleeve' with the rod inserted. Then just touch the solder to see if it is ready to flow. If it is, then add just enough to fill the gap with a little cocave shape at the end. See the picture. If done right, and the heat is right, it will almost 'suck' the solder right into the connector and form the concave shape.

Shine it up a bit with steel-wool to see if it has filled completely (all around) and is solid. Balls may indicate that the solder did not flow and there will not be a proper or solid connection.

And, for my two cents worth here, 4-40 is good for any high-torque operation. Solid is good. 2-56, although it is good for most 40-50 size planes, when you start doing high G maneuvers, or maneuvers that put a good amount of energy into the control surface, you do not want the rod to bend or flex. So, 4-40 is a good choice.

CGr.

grunde

Great, thanks for all the help.

Here is what I am going to go with, sound good??
Use 4-40 rods for the elevator and rudders pushrods w/steel clevis on both ends, soldering a threaded coupler onto the end with no threads:
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXK089&P=M

Do the same thing for the aileron servos but using 2-56 rods.

I like using the threaded couplers for easy adjustment of the length or do you think this is overkill and just use the solder on clevis's directly to the rod?

Thanks!

Geardaddys

Can't remember if I used 2-56 or 4-40's on my aileron/flaps or not.. I would think that the 2-56 would be fine there.. Thread coupler will be fine too.. I don't think that you will need it though because you will have the other threaded end to make adjustments with your threaded clevis.

Let us know how it turns out!

grunde

What type of soldering gun/iron/torch do you recommend??
I was looking online at the mini torches, but are they powerful enough to heat up the clevis and pushrod???

I looked today at Lowe's are there are so many different kinds, I am not sure what will work the best....
I have a cheap 25 watt iron that I used for some electrical connections years ago, will that work??

flyinryan

My Feedback: (1)

Grunde what side of KC are you on? I heard there is a lot of flying going on around that area. i am about 2hrs away.

grunde

There is quite a bit of flying that goes on in KC but I recently moved out of KC to Savannah.

I used to fly mainly on the N side of KC with the Northern Knights....www.northernknights.com