Tension Products

AeroControlex designs and manufactures quadrant-type Cable Tension Regulators as part of the extensive mechanical actuators product line. These assemblies are installed within the cable loop to any of an aircraft’s flight control surfaces and maintain consistent rig tension, while successfully transmitting all flight control movements. This product is designed and built to provide optimum pilot feel and flight performance. These products are especially critical in composite structures where thermal expansion between the aircraft structure and the flight control wires plays a key role in ensuring consistent pilot feel at all flight conditions and altitudes.

Our Cable Tension Regulators have been designed to maintain precise tension range requirements, even when high nominal loads are required. The assemblies are manufactured to meet demanding standards so that minimal backlash is added to the flight control cable run. The locking feature of the Cable Tension Regulators has been optimized to provide immediate response to asymmetric loads, while properly transmitting pilot commands.

Characteristics

Temperature changes, material variations, and aircraft structural fluctuations can all contribute to undesirable flight conditions. In order to ensure that our Cable Tension Regulators sufficiently maintain cable rig tension they have been tested to RTCA DO-160 environmental requirements including Vibration, Operational Shock, and Temperature Variation. Units are additionally tested to ensure operational endurance while compensating for tension changes and transmitting loads, as well as being subjected to extreme loading conditions.

Every aircraft is unique and AeroControlex has the capability to customize Cable Tension Regulators to satisfy a customer’s requirements. Features may be added to allow for easy installation, parts can be designed to fit in tight envelopes, and materials or processes can be adapted to meet most requirements. These products will increase the life of cable flight control systems, reduce the required maintenance, and enhance performance of your aircraft.

Typical Applications

Product Features

High Endurance – Designed to have a service life of a minimum 30,000 flight hours.
High load carrying capability, up to 1,000 lbs of tensile limit load
Cable Tension Regulation – The regulator will operate as a rigid unit when subjected to asymmetric cable loads and at the instant of cable failure if that occurs increasing aircraft safety
Ready at Install - No further adjustment of the unit shall be required upon installation.
No Special Tools needed – Service maintenance and inspection by means of tools that are normally available.
Pre-Rigged Configuration – A rigging kit will be provided such that aircraft cables can be rigged at ambient temperature without adjustment. The Tension regulators are provided with a pretension specified by the end user.
Robust Design – Tested to DO-160 environmental tests and vibration.