connect stabilator cables

I’m not putting a page number on this because several of the key steps will have to be repeated in the hangar (e.g., tweaking the cable lengths to get the stop-to-stop movements to correlate at the stick and at the stabilator itself.)  On the other hand, this was a pretty important step and thus it should be documented.

Recall when I said I had installed the forward portions of the stab cables from the control stick and under the pulley?  I missed the very subtle comment that said “right pulley passes through  the upper hole.”  Well, that comment was on page 32-14 and I routed the cables using “common sense” when I was working on the control assembly about a year ago.  You can tell where this is going, right?

Right.  I got the cables connected using the barrel connector and discovered that the rigging was backwards.  This is a pretty classic mistake to be made during any cable procedure, as there is essentially a 50/50 chance of doing it wrong.  To get to the forward cables required taking off the seat pan, a simple exercise of removing about 40 or 50 screws.  Then I realized I had to remove the cover under the flap handle.  This required removing one of the seat belt loops.  I had just removed & replaced the seat belt because I noticed that I had installed it upside down, now I needed to remove it again.

I pulled the cables and re-threaded them and re-connected them.  Still backwards.  Tried it again, and 3rd time was the charm.  Buttoning everything back up, I discovered that I had overlooked the 23 screws on the forward surface of the seat pan, so it took a bit longer to get things back together than it did to disassemble but eventually I got it all back together and the stabilator still works the way it’s supposed to.  

As mentioned above, I did not do the fine tuning as it will have to be undone to move the plane.  (I don’t think I should try to force the bolts in/out under tension, so I will have to relieve tension with the barrel connectors first.)  Just for fun, I did use my new tensionometer and was pleasantly surprised that I got 30 # and 35 # just by luck.