Another 2 hours playing with torque tubes. I really don’t know what is the acceptable level of friction. It bugs me that the bushings rotate freely on the tube when it’s out of the fuselage, but the when I put the tube in and start clecoing down the close out ribs, it goes to crap. I saw that another builder got advice from TAF to wait until the side skins are on before attempting the torque tubes. I think there are a few more things I can try before moving on, per the photos below.
The right outside floor rib – I’m looking straight down in the photo, but you can see that the top of the rib (which the flap torque tube rests in) twists outward a bit (down in this photo), which in turn puts a twisting force on the bushing. The twist is being caused by stress from how the rib is riveted in, not that the rib is actually bent, so I think I might have to find a way to relieve that stress. Same idea as relieving the stresses on skins so as to avoid “oil canning”. Maybe use a fluting tool?This left outside rib shows some of the same stress twisting, but the arrow also points to another defect (next photo)It looks like this left outside rib also has a bend in the bushing channel that I need to smooth out
