Hello,

Can you guys that have a kingcat shed some light on how the elevator linkage is supposed to be, I am looking at a second hand king cat and his linkages appear to be "curved" threaded rod. I am concerned about this rigidity of this setup and don't think its optimal, in face just by pressing on the elevator I was able to bend them slightly. BVM manuals are not available online so I could not find any details regarding this, what is the elevator setup supposed to be like on the kingcat, specifically the elevator linkage?

That's how they're supposed to be, per BVM specs.

That is how BVM designed the linkage on a lot of his planes so the the threaded rod doesn't come in contact with the trailing edge of the Stab, Vertical fin, or Wing for that matter and you are able to get the full deflection for his control throws.

I have had quite a few of his planes and have never had a single failure with this set-up.

+1 curved rods are correct as per BVM, never had an issue...

Yup they are curved, you just want to make sure they are either BVM supplied or at least something harder. I re-did my KingCat (which I'd bought from someone else) last Winter and when it came to the threaded rod, that stuff you find in the hobby shops just isn't hard enough. I finally wound up buying some from BVM and they were quite a bit stiffer than anything I found locally.

Picture worth a thousand words

As there is no reference point on the booms for the elevators I kinda scratched my head about this set up too. It's important to follow the instructions precisely with the rod length and to set the servo horns up so that neutral is exactly 90 Dev to the mounting plate. Once you do that you have a good reference point for the elevator neutral and can trim from there.

I scanned a copy of my my manual. It's an older version but send me a pm and I'll email it to you.

PaulD

small fyi.
Sometimes you might have to slightly elongate the servo slot..depending on whats used.. for example, the Kitty is designed around the std servo size, when going to an 8711, the hole was elongated and widened a bit.. thats also normal with the curved rod.. When I bought my kitty, the rudder slots had been widened and elongated to accommodate the larger taller wider servo because the spline is about 1mm farther from the opening.. again no big deal..
..

The BVM Spec rod is Stainless steel, so yes, you should never ever use soft steel or alum rods.. They are very strong. pop the linkage off.. if it bends easy, replace it however.. maybe someone didn't use the right material.. the stainless rods are definitely NOT easy to bend

wow thanks for the info if thats how they are supposed to be than I feel much better.

They are bent I lost a kingcat to a bird strike elevator section survived and I have it hanging in shop servos and rods till intact and have a New out of box fitted. Navy KC also have old and new OEM manuals , I can send pic if you need it but its legit, how much is a second hand one go for? Getting ready to list mine on rcu classifieds