Thorp Air Command - T18.net

Below is a photo of my old flap setup - I think it was a windshield washer motor from a 1960s era truck, or the cornbinder that Rich used to land on carriers, once they got the rest of the air wing stowed below decks. It weighed about 8 pounds - the "fan" gear bushing at the point of rotation finally seized and the gear teeth stripped - no problem landing without flaps - just came in a little hotter - still got it off the first taxiway at 1200 feet with little brakes.
I bought the FA-150-S-12-2 ....2 inch travel actuator from E-Motion, Inc. - 150 lbs of force - I paid 119.00 plus 14 in freight - what a deal!!! - better than what Vans uses and 1/2 the price. My buddy who helps me work on the plane and who built an RV-6 is quite impressed. A much better set up - I forgot to take a photo before buttoning the plane back up, but here is a photo of Lee's (I think) - same actuator - 2 brackets to the rear spar and you're good to go. I had enough play in the turnbuckles at the flap connx. to forgo new cables or swaging - just attached the cable block to the actuator rod with a bolt - easy stuff.
Then the fun started - I wired up the motor, flipped the master and hit the flap switch and.......nuthin.....?....Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!!!....says I.....it took me/us over an hour to figure out that the old motor was grounded to the fuselage and this one wasn't. Same switch with 6 poles - previously wired with three poles used as power (off the breaker), pos and neg to the old flap motor. I checked continuity to everything. Thank goodness for the internet - found a wiring diagram for it and good to go after creating a couple of jumpers. Had us stumped for awhile though.

I tried to post a switch wiring schematic....no joy.

That old flap motor looks like a lavatory flush motor used on Air Force fighters ! BOOM !

RB

AF fighters don't have labs Rich. We just pee out the window!
Cubes