How is that possible? Full travel on the yoke and only up 14* at the tail? Top cable too long? Does it go slack with the elevator full forward? It has been a long time but I think there is a turnbuckle on that cable somewhere. I'd want to lay eyes on that before the next flight. Check to see if it has jumped a pulley as well.

My initial thought was how is it possible or where had the missing degrees gone to. It made me think a control horn or something is connected wrong or upside down. I got sent some drawings of how the full system should be set up so I will study them tonight and I have l arranged for a mechanic to travel to the site in a weeks time to figure this out. The plane won’t leave the ground again until it’s sorted and we get to the bottom of the cause. Is the rigging or control angles something that would normally be checked when getting an annual? I’ve been an ultralight flyer this last few years so just getting up to speed with this class and it’s maintence necessities.

Per the Maule maintenance manual, the rigging (which includes control surface movement) is to be checked at 100 hour/annual. It also requires removing all floor boards to inspect all control cables, pulleys, bellcranks etc.

If you send me an email at:
youngan1@yahoo.com
I can send you a copy of the annual inspection checklist I created. It includes all of the stuff Maule requires, covers all FAA requirements, all Lycoming requirements, and a few additional items I’ve found to be important over the years. It also includes some helpful notes on service/inspection procedures here and there.

Depending on your level of comfort with mechanical work, I’d suggest removing all floors and the rear bulkhead now, so you can have a look at the whole system and possibly see what’s going on, while you are waiting for your mechanic to show up. It does seem very odd the the yoke can achieve full travel without the elevator getting full travel. That would seem to argue for a cable being off a pulley and/or being very loose.

This is all assuming that the elevator travel was checked correctly.

It’s also worth noting that while these things are required to be checked at annual, many mechanics don’t. One clue is how long your annual took. If it was done in a day or two, then almost certainly the whole list wasn’t completed. A full annual on a Maule typically takes me about 30-40 hours of labor, though if it’s a plane I have been annualing every year, and doing all the in-between work on, it can be quite a bit less. For example, if I checked the cable tensions and rigging last year, and upon inspection this year everything in the system looks and moves right, and the cables feel right, let’s just say that this portion of the inspection will go much faster. I do ALWAYS pull all the floors and the rear bulkhead. There is a lot of important stuff down there, and there is no other way to inspect it unless you have a removable metal belly. Also, I almost always find a variety of foreign objects in the belly that have fallen down through gaps in the floor. These can jam in control levers, pulleys, etc and cause all sorts of havoc, so it’s good to clean that area out thoroughly once a year at least.

Shamrock,
You are getting good info/ advice. You got to pull the floors to properly look at what you got so go ahead and get started or just have mechanic do it. The floors are not bad to get out but the front seats can be a PITA depending on the aircraft. You will pull your kick panels to get the front floor out. While there check your fuel plumbing and switch valve for leaks.

On a side note but relevent, a couple of years ago we found a couple of strands broken on a cable (i dont remember which) and replaced it. You got to look brother!

I have booked a mechanic familiar with Maules to come out and pull the floor boards next week to see if we can locate the culprit. I will arrange to get the fuel plumping checked off too. Thanks for the assistance Guys

Look all the way back in the tail. This is where all the water and debris will collect! I've found all kinds of things back there!

Hi Guys,
So I decided to go down today for a full check off of everything I could and it seems I did miss something when checking the yokes range of movement, I guess I was looking in the wrong areas.

Shockingly, somebody decided to tack wires onto one of the rails that the yoke slides on.

The following video shows the block that was in place:

https://youtu.be/JYUuMWev0xo

The positive side is I should be able to fix this myself tomorrow.

Ha, ha, ha... I'm guessing this had a pre-buy inspection too. Good catch. How's she working now?

Those look like sensor wires going to an engine analyzer. Can't believe someone would make that mistake!

I am going down tomorrow with the right tools to correct it and looking forward to being able to fly with and extra 50% of elevator to play with 😂🤦â€￾♂ï¸￾

I pushed for an 8.33 radio to be fitted for the ferry flight home. It looks like somebody must have assumed that was a structure support pole when infact it is a detrimental flight control component. I’m just lucky they didn’t tack it any further down or I would have been in a serious position.

Next I will order the VGs and elevator seal which should further assist on nailing short strip landings.

On a positive note I don’t need to spend on getting a mechanic onsite and a simple fix will solve my issue. Thanks again for all the help and hints on where to look ðŸ‘￾

WOW! 😧 😳
You are a very lucky Irishman!

shamrock331 wrote:
Shockingly, somebody decided to tack wires onto one of the rails that the yoke slides on.

The following video shows the block that was in place:

https://youtu.be/JYUuMWev0xo

Another double post! 🤷ðŸ￾»â€￾♂ï¸￾

My A&P asked me the same thing when I installed the USB jacks in my plane. It seemed like it couldn’t be possible that it happens, but you’ve shown me otherwise!

"Auto" mechanics are not accustomed to the idea that the "steering wheel" is allowed to move that much...