While I've been working on the not-very-photogenic wing tooling, Brad has been assembling small internal systems for his glider.
Here's his canopy latch system. The right side lever is in the latched position, the left is unlatched.
The left side latching bore. It's not clear in this photo, but the latch bore embeds a brass bushing tube.
The latching pin. On kit ships these will probably be a bit shorter so as to have only about 0.6" of engagement.
Brad's rudder pedals. The adjustment slider is based on what I once saw in a Genesis II sailplane. The pedals themselves are standard HP-18 items. The gas spring in the foreground supports the canopy pivot. Kit ships will have a shorter spring located further forward and anchored at the forward end of the pedal slide tube.
The rudder skin mold that Brad designed and had CNC cut.
Two photos of the first-article rudder skins. These came out at just over 2 lbs for the pair, which I think is a nice weight. The general rule for a sailplane rudder is when fully mass-balanced it weighs three times what the skins do.
Three photos of the first article rudder, temporarily assembled and set in place. Note the areas where the core foam is omitted to allow for internal parts at the two hinge locations.
Homebuilt aviation is not for folks who don't try things at home.
page updated 2 July 2008 all text and graphics copyright (c) 2008 HP Aircraft,
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