Now that the HS and elevators are on, it’s time to install the pitch trim. The first thing I did was to install a 9-pin d-sub connector on the servo wires for easier connection to the wiring harness later on. I put the servo tray in the tailcone and began the process of snaking the two cables through the HS and elevators back to the trim tabs. I quickly discovered that A. I really needed a pull string to make that happen, and B. it would have been easier to install a pull string without the VS and elevators on. So decision time – pull the VS and elevators or figure out a way to get a pull string through the structure. Because of the pain in the ass the both were to install, I opted on the latter. It turns out the only way I could get this to work was to use a two pronged approach. Basically, I wasn’t able to run a stiff wire all the way through from one end to the other. No matter how hard I tried I couldn’t manipulate the wire to get through all of the grommets in the HS. But what I could do was get it halfway through from either side. So that’s what I did – I ran wires from both the elevator access and from forward side of the HS that met up in the middle of the HS that I could reach. I then tied them together and was then able pull a continuous length of pull string from the front of the HS to the trim tab access hole in the bottom of the elevators. I then connected the string to the trim cables and gently pulled them through the HS and elevator structure until they emerged on the trailing edge. It was a piece of cake to install the rod ends and hook up the trim tabs and verify their movement.
