Quote Originally Posted by CharlieN View Post
When you see one of the Rutan designed aircraft hanging in a museum, you will find the control surfaces are frozen. Last year my Chapter was donated a Long EZ project, it sits in the field behind my house. I can not find any way to remove any control surface without the structure tearing apart due to how severely the steel bushings have seized...
Marginally off topic here, but:

I don't know what the materials are in Q1's and Q2's for control surface bushings - the plans I have don't say - but I can tell you that in close to 100 inspections/examinations of Rutan derivative aircraft (Varieze, Long-EZ, COZY III, COZY MKIV) I don't think I've ever seen a steel on steel bearing surface in the control system, and it's certainly not specified that way.

For the GU canard on VE, LE and COZY III aircraft, the elevator hinges are aluminum and they have bronze bushings pressed in, in which ride AN bolts as the bearing surface. For Roncz canards on LE, COZY III and COZY MKIV aircraft, the long SS hinge pin rides in AL plugs inside the torque tube, and in plated steel inside the offset weldments if there are weldments.

For the ailerons, steel hinge pins are used in standard AL extruded piano hinges. Same with the rudders. Many folks have gone to teflon tubes with smaller hinge pins for the piano hinges to reduce wear.

No steel on steel anywhere.

Apparently there are planes out there with steel on steel hinges, but these Rutan derivative aircraft are not in that category. Now, being plans built planes, who knows what the guy who built the one in your backyard did - he could have glued the hinges together, for all we know. But that's not per design. And I guarantee I could get your airplane disassembled without major damage to any structure.