Issue 80-The Control column.

**wonwinglo** · 14-07-2005

You should get a packet of nine mazak fittings which make up the control column assembly,these also consist of some brackets to attach this to the ply floor previously assembled,there is a control handle plus a trigger assembly which come within this set of parts.
The first thing is to dry fit everything as some of the holes need opening up ( the ones in the ply base are the wrong pitch ) and some are not of the same spacing such as the one that holds the trigger assembly,a bit of work with a round swiss file soon rectifies these,beware one of the pips on the collar holding the control column to the horizontal bar needs to be filed off as it is out of line and will stand proud if fitted as is.Fit the trigger BEFORE the control handle part as it is much easier to wiggle this into place.One word of warning bind the lower portion of the control column with fine fuse wire and flood with cyno,otherwise if this springs apart at a later stage you could be in for a fiddly bit of re-assembly.
The biggest problem is fore and aft slop in the lower spindle,to rectify this there is a simple remedy,slip two tiny rubber seals over the shaft and once everything is in place simply lock them with a dab of cyno,thats it job done,next week the rudder peddle parts are supplied.

The control column as assembled to the prepared floor,note the caution about the lower clamp brackets which could spring apart if not locked properly with some fuse wire.

The lower portion showing the two spindle clamping brackets which slop fore and aft if not attended to.

Two tiny rubber seals are slipped over the lower spindle,these are then locked into place with a touch of cyno,the slop is then eliminated in this assembly.