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Flying Wire Alignment?

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Ed T

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Hello all,
I've gotten to the point where airplane is rigged for first time and I-struts are finish welded and installed. All numbers look good (1.5 deg incidence top and bottom, 1 deg dihedral on lowers, wings square to tail post). I'm using the Pitts type pins to anchor the flying wires on the front spars. The 5/16th holes through the pins do not align with the front landing gear and flying wire fittings on the fuselage (the pins are bore sighted about 2 to 3 inches forward of the fitting on the fuselage). This implies that the outboard end of the wires will not be 90 degrees to the pin, and there will be a bending moment placed on the threaded portion of the flying (and possibly the landing) wires. Have any of you more advanced builders addressed this problem? I'm considering using spherical washers under the nut on the outboard end of the wires, but I believe the wire threads will contact the opposite side where it exits the pin, again applying a bending load in the most critical part of the wires. One possible solution would be to open up the hole in the inboard side of the pins to eliminate contact between the pin and the wire, possibly with a round file. I have another alignment problem with the front landing gear and flying wire fittings on both sides of the fuselage. There are several degrees of misalignment between these fittings and the pins in the spars (the fittings on both sides need to be raised about 3 deg). Again, to avoid a bending load on the flying wires and the terminal forks on the inboard end. Has anyone made an adjustment like this (the fittings have been finish welded)? Can they be bent cold or would they be better heated with a torch? If you've solved this problem I could sure use some advice before I tackle a solution. Thanks in advance.
 

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