Flaps command

[8286]

Hi everybody,
Doing my annual on my Cessna 140, I am not very happy with what I found concerning the flaps command. The holes attached to the springs have been enlarged... as you can see on the picture.
Someone can give me a clue to repair it ? Or may i find the complete part to buy somewhere ?
Thank you for you help.
Rodolphe
French C140

[6643]

Good catch! I think a doubler would do the trick.

(Moved to "Technical Discussion".)

[6543]

I had the same problem, although not as bad. Looks like you need a new bell crank or weld and drill new holes. That will be up to your IA. However the bell crank is half the problem. While the springs were cutting the holes, the crank was probably cutting the springs. I fixed mine by drilling out the holes and adding cable shackles (again my holes were not that bad), then bending new hooks on the ends of the two springs. Your IA will have to sign off on this fix. I’ve attached the instructions of what I did to mine and I hope this helps.
David

[6478]

Thank you for posting this David! Very well written and illustrated instructions. Saving this one for future reference.

Dean

[6643]

Nose write-up!

Did you leave the shackles on the bell crank loose enough to align with the springs as the bell crank turns? Because the angle changes, even if they are not intended to be free to turn, I think the nuts should be castellated, with cotter pins.

[6543]

I tightened the shackles on the bell crank so they are about 90 degrees to the crank. They stayed in place. At that location the shackles keep the springs apart. I also turned the top spring hook up and the bottom one down to help keep them apart. Since the other end of the springs tend to elongate the holes in the aluminum bulkhead, I added shackles on that end too. Only the spring ends that were hooked to the bell crank were damaged. I reinstalled the springs with the new formed hooks to the bulkhead and the original ends to the bell crank shackles. They seem to work better that way. I’ve attached two photos, one with the flaps up and the other with flaps down.
David

[8286]

Thank you very much for your pictures and help.
Rodolphe