PW-5 Assembly Question

To all -

I own a PW-5. Assembling the tailplane has always been a bit "tight" but yesterday, to my frustration, the left tailplane pin refused to be inserted into the left fuselage articulated bearing. The pin would insert to the shoulder and then refused to go further.

After much cleaning, greasing, more cleaning, more greasing, lots of sweating (and a bit of swearing), the tailplane finally seated itself.

If I had to guess, I think there might have been a burr or grain of sand in the articulated bearing.

After flying, dis-assembly was normal. Tight but normal.

Has anyone encountered this problem? If so, what was your "fix"?

Thanks in advance!

Lou (JH)

Not this exact issue, but similar issues intermittently on various other gliders....
Several times, found it was the particular pin or part had been inadvertently left out in the sun,
gotten really hot, and maybe expanded a bit. After having this happen from time to time,
figured out that simply dunking the part in a nearby ice chest or cooler for several minutes
usually solved the problem.

Steve



If I had to guess, I think there might have been a burr or grain of sand in the articulated bearing.



After flying, dis-assembly was normal. Tight but normal.



Has anyone encountered this problem? If so, what was your "fix"?



Thanks in advance!



Lou (JH)

On Wednesday, July 24, 2013 1:19:52 PM UTC-6, MNLou wrote:
To all -

I have assembled two different PW-5's probably a 100 times and have not had the problem you describe. I would guess that something was not aligned?

Bill Snead
6W

I own a PW-5. Assembling the tailplane has always been a bit "tight" but yesterday, to my frustration, the left tailplane pin refused to be inserted into the left fuselage articulated bearing. The pin would insert to the shoulder and then refused to go further.



After much cleaning, greasing, more cleaning, more greasing, lots of sweating (and a bit of swearing), the tailplane finally seated itself.



If I had to guess, I think there might have been a burr or grain of sand in the articulated bearing.



After flying, dis-assembly was normal. Tight but normal.



Has anyone encountered this problem? If so, what was your "fix"?



Thanks in advance!



Lou (JH)

On Thursday, July 25, 2013 9:08:58 PM UTC-5, wrote:

Bill Snead wrote -

I have assembled two different PW-5's probably a 100 times and have not had the problem you describe. I would guess that something was not aligned?

Bill thanks for the response! Everything was aligned enough so that both pins went into the articulated bushings up to the end of the taper on the pin. When the left pin was inserted enough so that the "shoulder" of the pin was being inserted through the bushing, that is when the resistance or binding occurred.

If there was some mis-alignment, I couldn't figure it out. I also tried both keeping the tailplane up a bit and keeping it horizontal once the pins were inserted. Neither seemed to do the trick.

Might that key an idea?

Problem resolved!

In my first post I speculated -

If I had to guess, I think there might have been a burr or grain of sand in the articulated bearing.


Upon further examination by our club's Director of Maintenance (who also owns a PW-5), a burr or rough spot was found on both the interior surface of the articulated bearing and, to a smaller extent, on the tailplane pin.

A little TLC with fine grit wet / dry sandpaper and new grease did the trick. It now functions smoother than it ever has.