Flight Controls

The controls will be duel stick with pushrods for the ailerons and elevator. The rudder will still use cables. I picked up two military joystick handles with all the buttons for $50 each. I purchased these from the same guy I got my flight instruments from in Rockland, Maine. He buys old aviation surplus hardware and equipment and sells it to others at a discount.

Here is the beginning of my duel stick setup. This is a mock up in aluminum. The real control sticks will be made of 4130. 7/8" 4130 tube will be used for the joysticks and torque tube. 1"x1" square tube caps each end of the torque tube. A parallel rod is installed to sync the two joysticks together. Two other rods will be attached to the bottom of the joysticks. These rods will transfer the linear motion into a torque tube running aft of the rear spar.

The torque tube in turn transfers its motion to the aileron pushrod control and out to the aileron bellcrank.

The joystick mount brackets are made of 1/8" aluminum. The bearings are made from 3/4" thick high density polyethylene HDPE.