Design Improvements for the Zenith 601 HDS: Instrument Panel

Elevator Cable Guide

The original design places the elevator guide near the rear bearing of the Y elevator/aileron control assembly into the center of the channel. As a result, the tension of the elevator cable varies significantly when the Y stick is moved sideways for aileron control.

The fix for this problem is simple. The guide should not be placed into the center of the channel, but off to one side. We put the guide on the right-hand side of the channel.

The off-center guide has the following effect. When the Y control stick is moved to the left or right, then one cable of the elevator has a shorter path from the control stick to the elevator bell crank, while the other cable has a longer path. The net effect is that the elevator cable tension remains unchanged when the Y stick is moved sideways. In fact, this is so regardless of the elevator position. Thus, throughout the entire range of possible motions of the Y stick, the elevator cables have constant tension.