--> Europa-List message posted by: "Kingsley Hurst" <hurstkr@growzone.com.au>
> For all those turnbuckle fans out there, has anybody ever thought
about how much tension you can put on those wires just by turning the
turnbuckle with one hand?
There is no way of seeing how much tension is on it, other than playing
guitar with the cables and I am kind of surprised there hasn't been more
said on this from the factory...at least you can't overtension them when
pulled by hand??
Alex,
Your comments are quite true but just remember that turnbuckles are MADE
FOR TIGHTENING CABLES and are used in thousands of aircraft for just
this purpose. In almost all cases, it would be possible to over tighten
these cables but good engineering practices ensure they are not.
Also consider that on the Europa, every bolt and nut can also be over
tightened and I'm sure there are many that have been. Has no one ever
crushed a piece of plywood, a piece of foam laminate, deformed a metal
tube or stripped a thread in their lifetime ?
In the case of the mass balance weight cables and turnbuckles, as with
everything else, common sense should prevail and the turnbuckles should
only be used to obtain enough tension to centre and restrain the arm.
It is a disappointment to me that those with turnbuckles who advocated
the retaining of the cables on Mod 70 were seen as being ANTI Mod 70
rebels. This was simply not true but to each his own I guess.
Regards
Kingsley
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