Those who asked for pics of my throttle, they are on their way. A few more tips:
1 - Shape My "throttle quadrant" is not really a quadrant. A quadrant is a portion of a disk, right? So, real quadrants (like the Piper ones) have a handle that is articulated at its BOTTOM. The quadrant box and the handle travel follow two arcs on concentric circles, the center of the circles being the axle of the handle. so, the distance between the throttle handle and the throttle body remains the same at all time. I did not like that for my KR, for two reasons: - The friction knob would be at the bottom, and there, it conflicts with my leg; - The quadrant solution requires bends to the cable. Why is that? Well, you want the cable to be pulled when you push the handle forward. So, the cable must be routed at the bottom, around a pulley, and then hang to the handle. A second pulley may even be required close to the top, if a lot of travel is required. So, slightly more complex, less friendly in the cockpit, and it wouldn't look as nice. But if you prefer it that way, you can build it the same way as I did mine. No difference, just make it a quadrant shape, and add a pulley at the bottom, and if the travel ois not enough, add a second one near the top. 2 - Finish I get questions about the nice finish of the aluminium. Well, all my aluminium parts have that beautiful, glazed finish. The secret is a rotary NYLON BRUSH. It looks like your typical electric drill wire brush, except it has got Nylon hair. They do the same job as a wire brush, but don't get distorted, and they last about ten times as much. And to polish aluminium, it's a dream: they polish nicely and quickly without scratching. Mine come from TRIPLEX, I suppose you can find other brands. The second thing I do is once I am finished with all the parts, I dip them in a hot bath of caustic soda solution FOR A FEW SECONDS. Caustic soda is used to unblock drains, it is found everywhere, and is extremey cheap. The idea is it is going to evenly oxidize the surface, giving it a slightly gloss grey finish. The guy who gave me the tip said it prevents corrosion for a very long time. This I don't know. I have been using it for non structural parts for two years, and so far so good. 3 - Bends As you can see, I gave the handle a double bend. What I use for bending blocks is steel profiles (steel square tubes). They cost next to nothing and have nice curves. All you have to do is choose a square tube section (with curves matching the thickness of your part), cut to length, then clamp together with your part in a vise. Then you hammer the part with a rubber mallet until you reach the bend angle. If you have to bend something 90 degrees, you finish the last few degrees by lifting the part a little bit. That's all folks! Serge Vidal KR2 ZS-WEC Tunis, Tunisia (the poor, frustrated pilot/builder) Orleans, France (the neglected, lonely KR2)
