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To keep the weight down, I have used 50 pound test woven fish line for the radiator shutter, magneto kill and starter switches, as well, as the pitch and roll trim. Since the shutter and trim mechanisms are activated by small winches, there is no need for precise length adjustment. This is not so for the starter and magneto kill switches where I have fixed short throw activation levers. Even though woven fish line is not supposed to stretch, it does a little and this makes it difficult to use.
After changing out some coolant hose, I was using wire ties to stabilize the hose. The light went off and the resulting prototype is what you see above. This is a four inch long plastic wire tie with the latch end cut off. Fish line is attached to the cut end. One end of a fish lead swivel is bent 90 degrees. The pointed end of the wire tie is slid through the bent eye and the cut off latch is slid into place. The free end of the swivel is tied to the fish line that activates the switch. |
One of the nice things about this system is that one can cut an existing control line and there is enough free length to make the required attachments. On the left is the wire tie with the latch end removed. Three half hitches were looped around the cut end.
To keep the line from slipping off the wire tie, JB Weld was applied to coat the line, and applied to fill the little serrations in the body of the tie. Below one can see the final installation paired with miniature turnbuckle that will be replaced. If and when the line stretches, all one has to do is to slide the latch portion a little further onto the wire tie body. Once the system is stable, the free end of the wire tie can be snipped off. |
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