Ping: Toecutter

I had a chance to stop by this afternoon and examine the cracked support
bracket for myself. It's a small triangular sheet aluminum bracket (maybe 6"
long and 3" wide -- imagine a 90 degree right triangle with a flange bent
over along the hypotenuse, and with a small hole drilled near the 90 degree
point for the bellcrank bolt). It supports the top of the bellcrank pivot
bolt (via the hole at the bracket's apex). The bellcrank bolt extends
throught the hole in the bracket, thorugh the bellcrank and then through the
lower wing skin. A nut on the end, outside the wing, completes the
assembly. The bracket had cracked along the horizontal flange where it is
riveted to the adjacent wing rib. There are six rivets holding this flange
to the rib. There is also a vertical reinforcement piece (another, smaller
triangular piece) that is riveted to the bracket, that has another three
rivets into the rib, so there are a total of nine rivets holding the bracket
to the rib. The crack was behind the most forward rivet and is about 3/4"
long.

Steve (our A&P) says that after it cracks near that first rivet, the crack
will propagate along the bend that forms the flange until it reaches the
next rivet, then the next, etc. The aileron will get progressively more
"spongy" feeling as this happens. However, unless it's allowed to go
unrepaired for some time, it seems unlikely that there will be a
catastrophic failure. We caught ours early (Steve noticed that the bracket
was moving when he moved the aileron). Nevertheless, it needed repairing,
which involves removing the fuel tank, drilling out the nine rivets, and
replacing the bracket. He was almost finished when I stopped in at 3:30, so
it shouldn't be horrendously expensive. Steve adds a small doubler to the
factory part, which adds a bit of extra metal thickness to the first two
rivets and which should reduce the likelihood of it happening again. He says
this cracking occurs from the ailerons banging against their stops, so
anyone who has a Cherokee needs to make sure the gust lock is in place when
the plane is tied down, every time.

--
Bob (Chief Pilot, White Knuckle Airways)

(A)nyone who has a Cherokee needs to make sure the gust lock is in place
when the plane is tied down, every time.

Just curious -- what kind of "gust lock" do you use on your Cherokee?

I've only used the "seat belt" method, when I remember -- and I always hate
the way it cranks the stabilator up into the air.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

We paid wayyyy too much for one of these http://www.gustlock.com/, but it
came with a free Aztec. Honestly, it works very well, BUT since it locks
your rudder pedals and thus your nose wheel steering, make sure you put the
included "DO NOT TOW" tag on the nose wheel, or it will need a different
kind of toe tag.
Jim

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
newsKxGf.763019$_o.504139@attbi_s71...
(A)nyone who has a Cherokee needs to make sure the gust lock is in place
when the plane is tied down, every time.

Just curious -- what kind of "gust lock" do you use on your Cherokee?

I've only used the "seat belt" method, when I remember -- and I always
hate the way it cranks the stabilator up into the air.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

We use a bungie cord that hooks to the brake rod on the right rudder pedal
on the pilot's side, loops once around the right horn of the pilot's yoke,
then around the left horn of the right-side yoke, and down to the left
rudder pedal rod on that side. Basically it does what the seatbelt method
does, but leaves a bit of compliance so if someone tows the plane with it
on, no damage is done. You need a fairly long bungie, but this seems to
work well. The loops around the yoke horns are because our bungie is just a
bit too long. OTOH, we ended up with a cracked support bracket, so perhaps
we need to rethink this.
--
Bob (Chief Pilot, White Knuckle Airways)


"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
newsKxGf.763019$_o.504139@attbi_s71...
(A)nyone who has a Cherokee needs to make sure the gust lock is in place
when the plane is tied down, every time.

Just curious -- what kind of "gust lock" do you use on your Cherokee?

I've only used the "seat belt" method, when I remember -- and I always
hate the way it cranks the stabilator up into the air.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

On Thu, 09 Feb 2006 02:25:24 GMT, "Jay Honeck"
wrote:

(A)nyone who has a Cherokee needs to make sure the gust lock is in place
when the plane is tied down, every time.

Just curious -- what kind of "gust lock" do you use on your Cherokee?

I've only used the "seat belt" method, when I remember -- and I always hate
the way it cranks the stabilator up into the air.


In your 235 you can slide the passenger seat up to about the 2nd to
closest position and then fold the seat back forward and lean it up
against the yoke. Play with the seat position and you will find the
one that looks like it was designed to do this. Been doing this for
about 6 years w/o any problems.

HTH.
z

In your 235 you can slide the passenger seat up to about the 2nd to
closest position and then fold the seat back forward and lean it up
against the yoke. Play with the seat position and you will find the
one that looks like it was designed to do this. Been doing this for
about 6 years w/o any problems.

Before we got the seats re-done in leather, that worked pretty well.

Now, they're too "tight" or something -- they won't stay leaned forward
against the yoke. We've tinkered with leaning the seat forward, and
buckling the seat belt behind it, but finally said "to heck with it" and
went to lunch...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

On Fri, 10 Feb 2006 13:03:52 GMT, "Jay Honeck"
wrote:

In your 235 you can slide the passenger seat up to about the 2nd to
closest position and then fold the seat back forward and lean it up
against the yoke. Play with the seat position and you will find the
one that looks like it was designed to do this. Been doing this for
about 6 years w/o any problems.

Before we got the seats re-done in leather, that worked pretty well.

Now, they're too "tight" or something -- they won't stay leaned forward
against the yoke. We've tinkered with leaning the seat forward, and
buckling the seat belt behind it, but finally said "to heck with it" and
went to lunch...


Well, it was worth a shot. Maybe eventually the seats will wear in.

z

Jay Honeck wrote:
: (A)nyone who has a Cherokee needs to make sure the gust lock is in place
: when the plane is tied down, every time.

: Just curious -- what kind of "gust lock" do you use on your Cherokee?

: I've only used the "seat belt" method, when I remember -- and I always hate
: the way it cranks the stabilator up into the air.

I've been doing the bungee cord trick as the other poster. I don't like the
seat belt trick because it puts the trailing edge of the tail in the air and
makes it easier for water to run in. I just run the bungee from the brake lever to
the left yoke (around once), and to the right yoke. It keeps a little tension on the
brake, but not enough the damage if towed as others have suggested. Never thought
about going all the way down to the rudder pedal, but doesn't seem like it would be
necessary since it's rigged with the nosewheel.

-Cory


--

************************************************** ***********************
* Cory Papenfuss *
* Electrical Engineering candidate Ph.D. graduate student *
* Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University *
************************************************** ***********************

wrote in message ...
I've been doing the bungee cord trick as the other poster. I don't like the
seat belt trick because it puts the trailing edge of the tail in the air and
makes it easier for water to run in. I just run the bungee from the brake lever to
the left yoke (around once), and to the right yoke. It keeps a little tension on the
brake, but not enough the damage if towed as others have suggested. Never thought
about going all the way down to the rudder pedal, but doesn't seem like it would be
necessary since it's rigged with the nosewheel.

-Cory

I use two bungee cords, similar to what Bob and Cory are doing. One between yokes and another from the right yoke to
the rudder pedals. Bob, what bracket broke on yours?

Joe Schneider
N8437R



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Jay Honeck wrote:
Just curious -- what kind of "gust lock" do you use on your Cherokee?

$1.50 pin with a big ring on one end (Lowes). Big "Remove Before
Flight" banner attached. Works like a charm. Then again, the control
column and plastic housing have a hole drilled through them (like the
typical Brand-C plane). I've heard that some Pipers had a similar gust
lock as Brand-C but I've never seen one.

The strap that holds both yokes together and snaps to the throttle
quadrant seems to work ok (used one on a rental Archer before we bought
the Arrow). More play in the controls than I'd like but I'd use one of
them as opposed to the seat belt trick


--
Jack Allison
PP-ASEL-IA Student
Arrow N2104T

"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the Earth
with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there
you will always long to return"
- Leonardo Da Vinci

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