rudder pedal freeness

[Dorsal]

I agree with Jeff, had to shim mine to get them to remain free when tightened.

[ken nougaret]

Anybody gone with stiffer springs?

[jtpitkin06]

It is not only possible but mandatory that your adjustable rudders spring back to keep tension on the cables and keep the cables on their respective pulleys. I found the rudder torque tube fitting process to be the most tedious of all assemblies on the Kitfox. Keep at it until you get smooth operation.

There are lots of postings on fitting the torque tubes.

Using stronger springs would be a band-aid fix, but at the cost of losing rudder feel. When pressing down on one rudder pedal you must overcome the spring tension on the two opposite pedals as they travel aft. You also must overcome the spring pressure when using the manual adjust levers. Concentrate on getting the binding out of the pedals.

Remember that airframes bend and flex in flight. If you have binding on the ground it could be worse in flight.

Don't get discouraged, we've all had to work the kinks out.

JP

[ken nougaret]

just found the thread on rudder pedal friction; i should have looked it up earlier. i'm going to pull the whole system back out of the plane and check it on the bench. i'll get it right. ken

[MotReklaw]

Think I will too, Ken. I have friction on just one side. Thought it turned freely before torquing it down. I may have an alignment problem....

Tommy (temporarily in El, Paso, TX)

...i should have looked it up earlier. i'm going to pull the whole system back out of the plane and check it on the bench. i'll get it right. ken

[ken nougaret]

Well, i didnt have an alignment problem. I had to sand on all my bearings and inner torque tubes. But now it works slicker than snot.