Rudder Pedal and toe brakes.

[napierm]

Attached is a picture of the rudder pedals on my KF4 project. I meant to take a picture of my KF3 rudder pedals but forgot about it. Anyway, take a close look.

The pilot's side pedals on the KF4 the "E" points to the right and the brake cylinder is on the left.

The passenger's side pedal on the KF4 the "E" points to the left and the brake cylinder is on the right.

So... Take a KF4 passenger "E" pedal pair, make the center tube longer for the wider KF3 pedal (OR, cut the KF3 pedal narrower) and viola, a set of "E" pedals for the pilot side on a KF3.


Cheers,

Mark Napier

[Av8r3400]

Funny-- I posed this exact question to the McBeans at Airventure. They told me that the "E" peddles would not fit as a replacement of my "C" peddles on my IV.

I will agree with everyone that the geometry of the "C" peddles is horrid.

[napierm]

I bought the pair for my KF3 on ebay (where else) for cheap. The builder decided that he was never going to install the passenger set. He had a couple of pictures of them and I thought they would work for me. The only real change was to weld on a tube to extend the center pivot to match the width of the KF3 pedal. Even my lousy welding skills are OK for this since I had to grind down the weld to make the shaft smooth again anyway.

Much better than the "C" because my size eleven shoes were pressing on the brake as much as the rudder pedal. I couldn't adjust the master cylinder length make that geometry work for me.

Next time I'm out at the hanger I'll take some pictures.

[dholly]

I made up a set of pedals based on the measures posted, hoping they were the wider 'corrected' size mentioned that lined up with the brake cylinder clevis. Just a heads up for others, they are not.

I was able to salvage the day by reusing the old bolt with some new washers, shear nuts (fit perfect between the clevis legs) and cotter pins in the travel bag. With the cylinder straight upright, the bolt was just long enough to reach into the far clevis leg and the whole assembly is surprisingly solid. I may simply use a longer drilled bolt to allow a castle nut outboard and see how it holds up.

I can say this is a HUGE improvement over the original ergonomics, well worth the effort. In addition to making the pedal wider (I think 4" between ears vs. the 3-1/4" Scott showed above would be about perfect on mine), I would also move the clevis hole out an extra 1/4" to 2-1/4" from the pedal face vs. 2" for a bit more clearance if you also plan to extend the cable adjusters and angle the pedals further forward.

Thanks for the motivation.

[jdmcbean]

Funny-- I posed this exact question to the McBeans at Airventure. They told me that the "E" peddles would not fit as a replacement of my "C" peddles on my IV.

I will agree with everyone that the geometry of the "C" peddles is horrid.

Sorry.. do not remember that question.. but they should work fine...

We have also been working on a kit for the purpose of using the flat style pedals....

[Ehfox]

Are there any pictures of these cut-off E pedals or other designs?

[napierm]

OK, Pictures.

[napierm]

The stock KF3 (pilot) and KF4 (passenger) pedals are white. The KF4 passenger pedals with the longer hinge tube to fit on the KF3 pilot side are yellow. Simple, yes?

[Lion8]

Nice photos Scott. I am bringing back a model IV. Currently fabricating the template for the new engine I got (thanks Doug). While I have nothing in front, I want to weld reenforcement plates on the torque tube and fab up the 'E' type rudder pedals. When I try to remove the bolts on either end of the torque tube, they just rotate and do not come out. Can anyone tell me how to remove these bolts?, or maybe a drawing of the torque tube assembly? Before I weld, I need to know what is inside these tubes. Thanks bunch, Tom, NJ

[napierm]

There is a plastic bushing in the tube and a locknut on the end of the bushing. You are turning the bolt and the locknut is turning too. The bracket has to be unscrewed from the floor and if you are lucky the rudder bars will just come off the bushings.

If the plastic bushings are stuck in the rudder bars (tubes) then you will have to get them out. If "none too gentle" methods don't work then to avoid damaging the rudder bar you will need the world's longest socket extension to reach the locknut (assuming the other end came off OK) so you can get the bolt off. Then the plastic bushing can be drilled out to avoid damaging the rudder bar.

On my III I turned my bushings down a little bit so they wouldn't stick again.

FWIW,

Mark Napier