Having taken delivery of the seat cushions for our F1 Rocket project, I could proceed to the next crucial step of cockpit design—figuring out the shape and length of the pilot’s control stick! The kit came with a stick—it’s aluminum and slightly bent… with a hand-scribbled note from Vince Frazier, current proprietor of Team Rocket, saying “I’d get a steel stick if I were you.” Never one to turn down good advice, I had to agree, but getting the shape right is critical to overall controllability and cockpit comfort.
With several bent stick blanks on hand, as well as some straight steel, I have begun the process of sitting in the pilot’s seat, stick grip in hand, and holding it next to various lengths and shapes of stick to see what will work out. No answer yet, but I have figured out that the same bent stick that I have in the RV-8 might not be optimal partly because this pilot’s waistline isn’t exactly what it was twenty years ago when that airplane was built. So that has to be taken into consideration.
Other factors include making sure that the grip doesn’t run into the panel or switches, that there is plenty of clearance at the top of the seat (at full up elevator), and any curved portion of the stick doesn’t interfere with the mounting the grip itself.
The builder/pilot of a home built is going to spend hundreds or thousands of hours with the stick in their hand so it’s worth the time to get it right!
Why a steel stick?
Hi Paul. You wrote that Vince Frazier advised you, “I’d get a steel stick if I were you.” After you implemented this tip, you were convinced. Now my question: My Highlander comes with an aluminum stick. Should I change to steel? And if so, why? Why did steel sticks convince you? Greetings from Switzerland, Phillip Leu
Hello Phillip – I went with steel in the case of the Rocket because that is what is traditionally used in this size/type of aircraft, and long ago, thre was a case of a crash in a Rocket where the stick failed. I think that is what makes folks nervous (even though I don’t know if the aluminum stick actually failed), and changing to steel in this case has no real penalty (I can eat one less pancake and make up for the extra weight). I generally tell people to use what the company/designer tells you to use, and Vince is now the guy selling Rockets – so I went with his recomendation. In your case, I’d do the same – use what the company suggests – and if that is aluminum, and all the HIghlanders are built that way, then you should be able to follow the engineering recomendation.