This next post will show the new rudder pedals. I did not like the stock pedals after I had installed them on the rudder bar. I also didn’t like the way the master cylinders' geometry was set up. I did some research and came up with the drawings for the pedals used in the PA 20. From these drawings I fabricated a new set of pedals. The first time I mounted the pedals I still had some issues with the geometry. The mounting lugs were not long enough. They were cut off and new ones welded on. Next issue was the upper attach point for the master cylinder. The location on the plans didn’t give me a good movement. After some experiments I came up with a good location for the attach point. The pictures below show the process.
First, the drawings.
Next, fabricating the parts. First, bending the curved uprights for the pedals. I filled the tube with sand and bent a curved piece that I could use to cut all four pieces.
Here’s the jig I used to bend the curve. It matched the curve indicated in the drawings.
The toe piece was pretty easy to make. I used my press to make the pad, pretty easy. Next was to fit the parts together.
I didn’t get a picture of the parts in the jig but this shot shows the welded pedal with the jig. The jig was just plywood holding everything in correct alignment for tack welding.
Next was the lugs that would attach the pedal to the upright on the rudder bar. I first followed the plans only to find out that these were short by about 1/4”. I had to make them a second time to get the size correct. All correct dimensions were added to a CAD drawing I developed of the correct pedal.
The same issue arose with the tabs to connect the master cylinder to the pedal. I followed the drawings, cut and welded as shown. These resulted in giving poor throw of the cylinder. This was proving to be very difficult to work through. Here’s the first attempt at the tabs.
This next picture shows what I finally came up with. Turns out, it matches a number of photos of other pedal set ups that I later found with more research. This was a lot of work!
All four pedals ready to install. I also purchased a new set of master cylinders rather than using the ones I had.
Here’s a shot of the pedals mounted on the rudder bar. I still need to add the attachment for the bottom of the master cylinders.
Next, the mounting tabs. These were pretty simple. They will be welded to the cross tube I added between the rudder bar and the firewall.
Another view of the tabs ……
Here you have it, everything welded in place and all the master cylinders in place. Good geometry and everything working well. I think I spent about 50 hours working through the process to get these correct.
Another view ….
Thought I would post a picture of the completed drawings with all the changes I worked through in the entire process.
Next step was on to the seats.