I'm sorry for all the questions everyone. It seems like I have a new problem or question every night. I do want to thank everyone for their responses. This site is so helpful and I have learned so much since I bought my J3.
I bought this plane almost a year ago. I am slowly working out all of the kinks. I have always noticed that my rudder pedal would bottom out on the front seat frame before the rudder reached it's stops on the tail. This was especially noticeable when pressing the left rudder pedal. It didn't seem like a problem at the time, so I decided to take care of it now, during the winter, when I wasn't flying too much.
I knew that I have a problem but wasn't quite sure what the problem was. I emailed the cub club regarding the proper length of the rudder cables. Here is their response:
As per Piper drawing #40123, the rudder cable should be 182-13/16". If turnbuckle part number
40141 is used, the cable should be made 3/8" longer.
I'm not sure how or why the rudder cable should be longer if you use a turnbuckle. That seems weird. Anyway, I was able to measure my Left rudder cable tonight. It measured 186". Over 3 inches too long. Neither of my rudder cables have turnbuckles on them. It seems like the last rebuilder of my cub just made his own cables instead of buying ones that were prefabricated.
I am trying to figure out how I should correct this problem. I think that the easiest way would be to cut the cable and re-swag it. My other option is to buy cables that are already pre-made from Univair. Is there an easy way to get the cable out of the aircraft? Even if I cut the cable and re-swag it, I would like to take the cable out of the aircraft so I can get an accurate measurement. It seems like the rudder cable fairlead just ahead of the horizontal stabilizer on the bottom of the fuselage is very hard to access and take apart. This is the only thing I can see that is making it difficult to remove these cables. The next question is whether I should add turnbuckles to these rudder cables or just try to make them the proper length without adding a turnbuckle. If I do, what size turnbuckle should I get.
What should I do?
Thanks again guys,
Tadd
I bought this plane almost a year ago. I am slowly working out all of the kinks. I have always noticed that my rudder pedal would bottom out on the front seat frame before the rudder reached it's stops on the tail. This was especially noticeable when pressing the left rudder pedal. It didn't seem like a problem at the time, so I decided to take care of it now, during the winter, when I wasn't flying too much.
I knew that I have a problem but wasn't quite sure what the problem was. I emailed the cub club regarding the proper length of the rudder cables. Here is their response:
As per Piper drawing #40123, the rudder cable should be 182-13/16". If turnbuckle part number
40141 is used, the cable should be made 3/8" longer.
I'm not sure how or why the rudder cable should be longer if you use a turnbuckle. That seems weird. Anyway, I was able to measure my Left rudder cable tonight. It measured 186". Over 3 inches too long. Neither of my rudder cables have turnbuckles on them. It seems like the last rebuilder of my cub just made his own cables instead of buying ones that were prefabricated.
I am trying to figure out how I should correct this problem. I think that the easiest way would be to cut the cable and re-swag it. My other option is to buy cables that are already pre-made from Univair. Is there an easy way to get the cable out of the aircraft? Even if I cut the cable and re-swag it, I would like to take the cable out of the aircraft so I can get an accurate measurement. It seems like the rudder cable fairlead just ahead of the horizontal stabilizer on the bottom of the fuselage is very hard to access and take apart. This is the only thing I can see that is making it difficult to remove these cables. The next question is whether I should add turnbuckles to these rudder cables or just try to make them the proper length without adding a turnbuckle. If I do, what size turnbuckle should I get.
What should I do?
Thanks again guys,
Tadd
