safety pin

I use the safety pins from Knauff and Grove - try them - there are
"right" and "left" safety pins specially made for the L'Hotellier
connectors - try Knauff and Grove - and get a couple spares
and you are set for a long time.

Good info Bob,

Those are the ones I've been looking for.

Jim

"jphoenix" wrote in
oups.com:

Bob,

Those 416's don't fit very well in the outer panel connection control
rod tubes in the N3. I don't like the idea of using that large of a
safety pin there, I'm sure it would catch on the end of the rod
housing. I use safety wire so I can bend it back flush and there's no
chance of it catching the end of the tube opening. I like Gary's idea
of those very small clips. Maybe there's an AN equivelant, but I've
never seen one.

Inside the fuselage, I use Wedekind sleeves, but again, no room for
the Wedekind sleeves out in the outer panel connections. Hopefully the
FAA won't be lurking behind any bushes (or maybe trolling the OLC for
violations) when I install my Lowe's hairclip pins;-)

Jim


OK, Jim. I guess I jumped on Gary a bit too quickly.

All my personal experience is with Pik-20's and ASW-20's and similar
gliders in which the safety pins are fairly easy to see, install, and
inspect. AN416-2's work well in those applications and probably many
others. They fit the holes in the connectors snugly and lock positively.
The AN416-2 would be the safety pin of choice in most "normal"
applications.

I can see that on a LS-6 or on open class outer panels that clearances and
installation effort could be a problem. I have also seen that it is
exactly these gliders that seem to have the most problems with controls
becoming disconnected. Coincidence? Be careful out there...

I have personally moved on to gliders with all automatic hookups. They
offer additional peace of mind and are typically more tolerant of casual
assembly (which is difficult for me to understand why it occurs). The
difference in cost of the gliders with automatic hookups is, of course,
much more than the $0.23 each cost of the AN416-2. I am also not aware of
ANY available open class competitive racing glider with completely
automatic hookups.
-Bob Korves

Bob K.,

I still use the AN416's - 7 each on my 1-26.

Looking at the accident stats on the FAA database (also NTSB I suppose)
I see a lot of ASW-20's lost their elevator connections, but I suppose
that's pretty well known in the community. I can't imagine not getting
my (Nimbus 3) ailerons connected, it takes a half hour to safety
everything out there. I would surely miss that time not spent in
rigging - getting done a half hour earlier (1 hour rigging instead of
1.5 hours) than normal would be an alarm bell to me!

Jim