Worn upper rudder hinge pin

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briankelly327
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Worn upper rudder hinge pin

Post by briankelly327 »

The plane is just wrapping up its annual, and our last discrepancy is a worn upper rudder hinge pin.

Apparently the pin that slides into the hinge is located in the rudder, and the shop estimates 10 hrs of labor required to open up the rudder, remove the existing pin, and then do fiberglass repair.

Has anyone had luck replacing this before? There is a chance its as easy as ordering one new part, but the shop doesn't think it will fit tightly on the hinge.

Curious if anyone has had this issue before, or any advice that may help with the replacement.
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Rick
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Re: Worn upper rudder hinge pin

Post by Rick »

Brian, have you contacted Diamond Customer Support? These are exactly the kinds of questions that I have found them to be very helpful with. You can email them at customersupport@diamondair.com . Typically you will receive a response the same day. If there is a procedure for replacing the rudder hinge pin, they will send you the drawings and work instructions.
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Steve
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Re: Worn upper rudder hinge pin

Post by Steve »

I would guess (yes, just a guess - Diamond would know better) that it is the bearing (mounted in the vertical stabilizer) rather than the pin mounted in the rudder that is worn. The reason I think this is that the bearing is a bronze alloy (soft) and the pin is steel (hard). The bearing is accessible without disassembly, and would be much easier to replace than the rudder pin (maybe intentionally). Even if it is the pin that is worn, I would replace both parts of the bearing assembly (pin and bearing). Good luck, and let us know...

Steve

Parenthetically, in 18 years of following things Diamond, yours is the first time I've heard of this problem.
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Rich
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Re: Worn upper rudder hinge pin

Post by Rich »

This particular hinge is supposed to be periodically lubricated. The AMM says to remove the rudder to do this. But I have found one can squeeze the required grease into it by fingertip with the rudder still mounted. How much to put in? More is better, right? :D
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Don
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Re: Worn upper rudder hinge pin

Post by Don »

Just curious. How many hours on your Star? And what Steve says above, soft bronze vs hard steel, makes a lot of sense. I would contact Diamond first before letting someone literally tear apart my rudder.
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briankelly327
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Re: Worn upper rudder hinge pin

Post by briankelly327 »

Thanks for the input guys.

Yea the mechanic got the pin and bearing ordered from diamond plus instructions on how to replace the pin if necessary. He’s going to do the bearing first, and if for some reason the existing pin doesn’t fit right (ie if it’s too worn) he’ll replace that second.

And Don for background, it’s a 2006 with 3,500 tach time. Before I bought it, the seller took it to diamond factory for what diamond described as a $35k complete refurb, so it’s in pretty good condition overall. Guess the rudder pin was never addressed.

One positive of the longer history is that the mechanic found the plane was already in compliance with the wing spar AD (I was expecting to have to do that this annual).

I’ll follow up with the outcome next week once the parts arrive.
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Steve
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Re: Worn upper rudder hinge pin

Post by Steve »

Rich wrote: Thu Jan 17, 2019 4:59 pm This particular hinge is supposed to be periodically lubricated. The AMM says to remove the rudder to do this. But I have found one can squeeze the required grease into it by fingertip with the rudder still mounted. How much to put in? More is better, right? :D
I also lubricate it quite liberally. I do remove the rudder at each Annual, though. It is not really possible to inspect the interior of the vertical stabilizer without doing so (thread drift alert), which is an item on Diamond's 200 Hour Inspection checklist. It is quick and easy to remove the rudder on the Star, so I do it every Annual. Just be sure you use new Nyloc nuts to replace it. They are critical fasteners!

Steve
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Re: Worn upper rudder hinge pin

Post by Karl »

I don't remember every having to change the pin, and most of our aircraft are approaching 9000 hrs.
We usually just change the bearing.
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Lance Murray
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Re: Worn upper rudder hinge pin

Post by Lance Murray »

I am really curious what do you get for a 35k refurb?
briankelly327 wrote: Thu Jan 17, 2019 5:54 pm Thanks for the input guys.

Yea the mechanic got the pin and bearing ordered from diamond plus instructions on how to replace the pin if necessary. He’s going to do the bearing first, and if for some reason the existing pin doesn’t fit right (ie if it’s too worn) he’ll replace that second.

And Don for background, it’s a 2006 with 3,500 tach time. Before I bought it, the seller took it to diamond factory for what diamond described as a $35k complete refurb, so it’s in pretty good condition overall. Guess the rudder pin was never addressed.

One positive of the longer history is that the mechanic found the plane was already in compliance with the wing spar AD (I was expecting to have to do that this annual).

I’ll follow up with the outcome next week once the parts arrive.
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briankelly327
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Re: Worn upper rudder hinge pin

Post by briankelly327 »

Lance - It took several pages of log book entries, I need to go re-check the logs but I believe it included some of the following items: New tall bubble canopy, KAP140 servo refurb, stall horn refurb, G1000 refurb, wing bonding work, new NLG and MLG, new wing walk, wing spar MSB.

Also to close the loop on this, we just had to replace the bearing during the annual. The pin fit fine so it was not an expensive annual item this year.
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