INTERIOR - AUGUST, 2009

Aug 13 - While final-installing my elevators, I realized the top of the pilot's control stick is hitting the switches panel, so I decided to resolve that by cutting down the stick and final-installing the Infinity Aerospace grips.  I should have read the Infinity directions first.  I measured how much the grip overlaps the stick (1 3/8") and how much the grip extends above the stick (4 5/8").  So I cut off 8", resulting in a net decrease of 3 3/8".  But then when I went to install the grips, I realized that there's a bunch of modifications to do to the stick top, and that the grip actually overlaps the stick by 2 1/8" when installed properly.  So, I ended up with 3/4" shorter than I'd intended; not a huge deal.

I also learned that it would have been vastly easier and I could have done a better job if I'd done all this BEFORE I'd final-installed the sticks way back when I first started working on the plane (April, 2003).  This is due to the modifications you have to make to the stick top to install the Infinity grip.  So I did it all pretty much upside-down, hanging over the edge of the fuselage, working one-handed, while the other hand was busy keeping the stick from wobbling all around.  In addition to cutting the stick to length, I also had to drill a 29/64" hole sideways through the stick and cut out a notch in the aft side of the stick.

  After cutting the stick to length, it also needs this hole and notch cut into it.

Because I was installing the grips onto an installed, and thus vertical, stick, the damn switches & parts kept falling out of the grip as I tried to install it, necessitating the use of at least 4 hands, which I didn't have.  If I'd been doing this horizontally on a bench, it would have all been easy.  Anyway, I ended up breaking out the hot glue gun and gluing the loose switches into place.

I finally got it all done, but the 2 grip halves just would NOT mate properly.  I dicked with it a long time, then decided to call Infinity in the morning.  4.0 hr

Aug 14 - I looked up Infinity, but they're west coast and their web site says to call after 2 PM, which is 5 PM here, and I didn't want to wait all day.  Somewhere in the deepest recesses of my brain, I faintly recalled the guy who sold me this stuff at OSH03, I think his name was Jim, saying something about having to remove the powdercoat from RV sticks.   So, I did all that, again hanging my head upside-down over the side of the RV, while trying to also keep the stick from flopping around too much as I did it.  Finally got the grip installed ok.  I'm thinking I may need to remove the crotch strap mounts I so laboriously installed way back in 2003.  They are kind of in the way of the grip switch wires, I don't plan on doing aerobatics after all, especially with an Eggenfellner engine, and I'm not so sure I want a strap on my crotch all the time I'm flying.  1.0 hr

  Here is the pilot's control stick grip installed.   Note the crotch strap mount just behind the bottom of the stick.   I may need to remove them in favor of the grip switch wiring.  My hangar overhead lights cast a greenish light that I don't usually notice, but my wife has mentioned it, and it's obvious in the picture.

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