Flap handle

[Bdflies]

Note: I have a Patrol and don't have any way of knowing how similar the 4 place mechanism might be.
After reading several threads about extending flap handles, I wondered about what was going on. Either the handles are short, or we have a bunch of weenies flying Bearhawk variants. Well, faced with that choice of explanations, I've declared the handle too short, cause I was never able to get the 4th notch out. I guess the latter explanation is still possible, but I'm not going there... Also, my throttle quadrant doesn't leave much room for fingers, between the handle and the enclosure.. This limits leverage by forcing the grip down a bit.
I was OK with 3 notches, on landing and knew that I'd modify the handle at some point, in the future - until a recent flight. After pulling the 2nd notch, but before releasing the handle, it slammed down so hard my watch was ejected from my wrist! I figured that I didn't pull quite enough to engage the detent into the notched piece. Pulling again, To my surprise, it wouldn't engage any notch. The button was stuck down and nothing I did would free it. Hmmm... I get to make a no-flap landing into my (not too roomy) strip. Well, a little extra speed, a little slip and a little more brakes and it went just fine. But, what happened?

To Be Continued...

Bill

[Bdflies]

I'm breaking this up, so I don't have to worry about the whole thing when I screw something up...

Well, safely on the ground and curious as heck, I set out to see what the heck happened! It took a bit of prying, with a screwdriver, to free the detent button. Once freed, I could not get the button to stick again. If it did it once, I fully expect it would do it again.
I removed the handle assembly and took it apart. Everything looked just fine. Out of curiosity, I mic'ed the ID of the handle tube, the OD of the plunger/detent and the diameter of the spring wire. The plunger to handle clearance was .061". The spring wire is .059". This leaves enough room for the spring tail to lodge between the members. This is the only explanation I can come up with, as to why the button stuck down. I have no way of knowing if these dimensions are typical of all Patrols, or if similar situations can exist on the 4 place. But, I might suggest that you check your components.
NOTE: I don't believe this is a particularly unsafe phenomenon, but rather a very surprising one.

This seemed to be a fine time to make an extended handle, with clearance for my throttle quadrant. And maybe tighter clearances to prevent another stuck button. So off I went!

Tubing was ordered and head scratching began.

Bill

[Bdflies]

Because of the quadrant clearance, I wanted to shift the lever right, a couple of inches. Because of the pivot and latch geometry, the handle itself would need to be bent a bit. Since the detent plunger would need to be inserted from the top, past the bends, I couldn't use the same latch detent mechanism.

I made a completely different latch mechanism. It's not better, it's different. It allows i sertion past the curves in the handle.
Rather than write a thousand words, see the pics attached.

Note that I machined ramps into each notch. It very smoothly engages each notch and the 3 5/8" additional length now allows easy engagement of the 4th notch!

Bill

[Bcone1381]

Thanks Bill, Your workmanship looks great.

Brooks

[Bdflies]

I appreciate that Brooks! I don't particularly recommend bending the handle, unless some specific need forces such, but I do suggest lengthening the flap handle. This thing has some real "barn doors" hanging off the back of the wing! The last notch is pure drag and I absolutely love it!