The toggle switch that is labeled Flaps Up / Flaps Down is
actually the Belly Board switch. This is a DPDT
momentary on in both directions. The switch is located directly
above my mixture control on the instrument
panel.
This is the linear actuator which controls the
belly board. It has a travel of 7 inches and was bought
from Van's Aircraft. Yep, the same actuator
that is used for flaps on a RV.
The actuator is mounted to the seat back upright rails and
pivots on one bolt there. It then extends down
through the fuselage and attaches to the belly board.
This shows a little more of the overall installation of the actuator.
The board in the full down position. It is attached to the
fuselage with a piano hinge which spans the
entire length of the board. The hinge is riveted to the board with solid
rivets.
This is the board in the up position on the bottom of the
fuselage. It is made from 1/8" x 9" x 30" 6061-T6 aluminum. The
photo is distorted, things really are nice and square and
straight.
This is a side view of the board in the fully extended
position. The board can be stopped at any point through the range of
operation simply by releasing the momentary on switch. This gives me a
full option of different
deflections.
This is the attach point of the actuator to the belly board.
The hole in the fuselage is barely large enough for
the bracket to pass through.
This view shows the forward side of the rear spar. I have
laminated 1/4" birch aircraft grade plywood to the forward side of the rear spar from the top
down to the floor and the full width of the fuselage. This gave me a lip of about 1" between the
bottom of the spar and the floor. I then fabricated six angle brackets from 1/8" aluminum 6061-T6
angle. These brackets were bolted to the plywood lip. The piano hinge on the belly board was then
bolted to these six attach points.
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