I have the original "plans" phenolic bearings for the aileron torque tubes in my Long-EZ. I have traced the slop in the aileron controls back to this phenolic bearing. The plane has not flown so the slop is due to slightly oversize hole durring construction by the original builder. The left side has little slop. On the right side I can move the trailing edge of the aileron up and down approximately 1/16" up and 1/16" down for a total free play travel of approximately 1/8" with no noticable movement of the left side aileron durring the process. If I grab the the right wing torque tube right next to the phenolic bearing and rattle it agressively I can detect there is some slop and I can see a slight gap where the phenolic hole is slightly bigger that the 5/8 steel torque tube extender that passes through the bearing. I am wondering if this slop is common and acceptable and when I should ground the aircraft. How much free travel is common? IMHO there should be absolutely no slop but I dont see how that would be common with this design, especially after a few hundered hours or more. I would appreciate hearing from others with this design or condition either on or off forum is OK
thanks
Steve Morse
L-EZ N592BJ
