The flight controls were a pretty large project because of the total number of pieces that had to be made (34 in all I think). Most of them were fairly easy to make though. In my opinion the two areas that are most important to get right to make the controls work smoothly are the alignment of the collars that the torque tube sits in and to make sure there is enough clearance at the stick boot for the bolts that run through the stick socket and stick-to-stick pushrod.

The first parts I made were the stick sockets. I began by marking the control stick so I would know how far to stick it into the socket tube when I flattened the socket. This was to keep the socket from bending above the desired line.

To finish the bending process I inserted a piece ot square tubing to try to get the sides flatter and to check to make sure the tube had been squeezed to the right dimensions.

Next I cut the section out to create the opening for the stick to stick pushrod.

After that I finished flattening the tube where the reinforcement tabs would be welded, rounded  the ends, and cleaned it up.

Here is a picture of the reinforcement plates that get welded to the ears on the stick socket.

I used a pair of vice grips to clamp the plates in place while tack welding them on (am I getting too basic here?)

Here the reinforcement plates have been welded to the ears.

After drilling and reaming the holes for the stick to stick pushrod bolts it was time to drill the hole for the bushing that connects the socket to the stick boot. I tried to make sure they were parallel by inserting the reamer into the holes I had just drilled and insuring it was aligned with the drill bit I am using to drill the hole for the bushing.

Here is a picture of the stick socket with the bushing hole and pushrod bolt holes drilled.

Next I cut and inserted the bushing for the stick boot bolt. I left it long so the ends wouldn't burn off when I weld it in (I hate it when that happens!)

Here I have put the washers over the bushing and tack welded them so they would stay in place for bending.

Here the washers have been bent to conform to the shape of the tube. Next is to weld them on.

Here the washers and bushing have been welded on and ground / filed to smooth them up.

Just a closeup of the bushing / reinforcement washer.

Next I decided to make the collars that support the torque tube assembly. I began by drawing a sort of template to get the parts in the correct position.

I didn't really get a picture of how I jigged the collars for welding so I will have to show you using this picture. At the top you can see two bushings mounted to the board with bolts. To tack weld the bushings to the collar I then place the collar between the bushings supported by a piece of 7/8" tubing to get the proper distance.

This is the beginning of the stick boot. In this picture you can see how I have drawn all of the dimensions onto the plate I will be making it out of.

If you noticed in the previous picture I had some 1" washers marked out (4 are needed). I used a 1 1/8" hole saw to cut them and they came out the perfect size. (The hole on this one didn't come out too round; that is why I had it left over to take a picture of).

Here the stick boot has been trimmed to size and I have a couple of the washers laid out.

The next step I did was to put the stick boot in the vise with the centerline of the boot aligned with the centerline of the tube I was using to bend it around.

The next step I did was to bend the stick boot to its proper shape. This was probably the hardest part of making the flight controls to me (the first one at least.. the second one always seems easier).

Here is the stick boot bent about 1/2 way into shape. After this a turned the boot over and bent the other half to this same shape.

This is what it looked like after I got it out of the vice (after using the hammer). In case you are wondering I bent it cold using a 2 pound sledge hammer, protecting the metal with a piece of wood as I hit it.

Here I have squeezed the boot to the proper shape. I have also drilled holes at the corners of where the next bend will be made to give it a smooth rounded edge.

Here the excess metal that will not get bent has been cut off.

In this picture you can see the "wings" have been bent out. I leave some excess on the part because it makes it much easier to bend than if you trim the "wings" to size first.

And this is after trimming the excess metal from the "wings".

Here the corners of the boot have been radiused and drilled for the stick socket bolt. I used a bolt to hold everything in alignment while tack welding the washers on.

Here are the stick socket and stick boot as they normally fit together. The front stick socket gets a hole drilled in it for quick removal of the stick and the rear stick socket gets a fishmouth to weld the stick in.

This is the torque tube cut out on the end to fit the stick boot onto.

Here is how the stick boot fits onto the torque tube.

This is the rear stick boot after being welded onto the torque tube. (Picture was taken after the project was finished obviously).

This is the beginning of the aileron control tube actuator levers (for lack of a better name to call them). I only center punched one because I drilled them as a pair to insure the holes lined up perfectly.

Here one of the pieces is after being fitted to the torque tube.

Here they are after being fitted and drilled. The piece of wood in the center will be used to keep them parallel when welding them onto the torque tube.

These are all of the components used to make up the flight controls except the stick-to-stick pushrods and the control sticks. All that's left now is a little welding.

This is how I set the collars up to weld them to the fuselage. I left the torque tube in the collars while tack welding the collars on. I spent quite a bit of time playing with the collars making sure they were aligned so the torque tube would rotate smoothly in them.

After I had the collars welded on I could mark the torque tube for the collar stops. These limit fore and aft movement of the torque tube. After welding them on I polished the bearing surface with 400 and 600 sandpaper to get it as smooth as possible.

This is how I set the aileron actuator levers up for welding to the torque tube. The wood keeps the plates parallel and the clamp keeps them from moving apart during tack welding.

Here is how I set the levers up for welding onto the torque tube. The wood in the foreground just supports the C clamp.

A picture of the aileron levers after welding.

This is the beginning of the stick-to-stick pushrod. This isn't made until both stick boots are welded on because the distance between the holes in this pushrod should match the distance between the holes in the stick boots to get the control sticks parallel.

Here I have made the two tabs that get welded on which connect to the rest of the elevator control system and drilled the tube for the two bushings that get welded in.

This is how I set the tube up for welding. I placed a small piece of 5/8" square tubing at the end where the bolt goes through. This probably wasn't necessary since between the clamp and the bolt the tabs should stay parallel but it made it feel like nothing was going to move while welding it.

This picture shows the two tabs welded on as well as the bushing welded in although it is hard to see the bushing. There is also a bushing installed in the other end of the tube.

This is the completed assembly. If you read the page on the seats you can see the other modification I had to make. I had to put a curve in the control sticks to clear the seat frame. It will make me feel like I am in a helicopter! (Most helicopter cyclics are curved). Hopefully it will climb straight up like one!

Here is a view of the controls installed. You can see here I would have had interference between the stick and the seat frame.

The stick is back as far as it will go in this picture. It probably won't go this far once the elevator is rigged. Still plenty of clearance.