Front control stick and grip

13 Jan 2005 Front control stick and grip

I installed the stick grip onto the control. Here are some photos.

This hole is for the grip cabling to exit near the bottom of the stick. The exit is actually just at the place where the stick connects to the control column. The rubber grommet is also shown.

Here I am tapping the hole I’ve drilled for the screws that hold on the stick. I bought some very small taps the last time I was in Home Depot in Austin, and I needed them here! If I recall correctly, these were 4-40 threads.

Here you can see where the cabling exits the stick, and the rubber grommet is in place. Also note that I’ve put a lot of heat shrink tube around the stick grip wires.

Another shot of the stick grip.

It is kind of hard to see in these two pictures, but the grip just barely clears the instrument panel. It is enough, about 1/16″, but I am sure that I would not feel right flying with it so close to the panel. Bummer, that means I’ve got to take it all apart and cut off a bit more.

Here is the original amount that I cut off the grip. It was not quite enough!

Here you can see the extra inch or so that I had to chop off to make the grip fit under the instrument panel.

Trust me, I put it all back together, but for some reason, I didn’t get a shot. Now it clears the panel fine, and I won’t worry about it jamming.