The tech counselors from EAA Chapter 49 agreed with my idea of dealing with the loose VA-111 fittings in the W-716 aileron pushrod tubes by installing them with adhesive in addition to the rivets. One of them has built a Rocket, and said he had the same problem and used JB Weld, so that's what I'll do. I drilled and deburred both ends of both pushrods in preparation for assembly, but couldn't readily locate my JB Weld, so I'll finish the assembly later.
The tech counselors also suggested intalling the aileron bellcranks before I skin the bottom of the wings. This will allow better access for installing the washers and spacers, and torquing the bolts. To that end, I cleaned the powdercoat from the ends of the bellcrank bores and adjusted the brass bushing lengths per plans. The plans say to make the brass bushings 1/64" to 1/32" longer than the bores in the bellcranks so the bushing can be clamped between the brackets and still allow the bellcrank to rotate freely around the bushing. I got the left bushing to 0.022" longer than its bellcrank, and the right one 0.017" longer. The manual also says the bushings need to be drilled to be a slip fit on the bolts, but this wasn't necessary on mine.
VA-11 drilled to one end of a W-716 aileron pushrod tube.
