CFR > Title 14 - Aeronautics and Space > CHAPTER I—FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION > SUBCHAPTER C—AIRCRAFT (parts 21 to 50) > PART 27—AIRWORTHINESS STANDARDS: NORMAL CATEGORY ROTORCRAFT > SUBPART D—Design and Construction (§27.601 to §27.873) > 27.685—Control system details.

27.685—Control system details.

(a) Each detail of each control system must be designed to prevent jamming, chafing, and interference from cargo, passengers, loose objects or the freezing of moisture.
(b) There must be means in the cockpit to prevent the entry of foreign objects into places where they would jam the system.
(c) There must be means to prevent the slapping of cables or tubes against other parts.
(d) Cable systems must be designed as follows:
(1) Cables, cable fittings, turnbuckles, splices, and pulleys must be of an acceptable kind.
(2) The design of the cable systems must prevent any hazardous change in cable tension throughout the range of travel under any operating conditions and temperature variations.
(3) No cable smaller than three thirty-seconds of an inch diameter may be used in any primary control system.
(4) Pulley kinds and sizes must correspond to the cables with which they are used. The pulley cable combinations and strength values which must be used are specified in Military Handbook MIL-HDBK-5C, Vol. 1 & Vol. 2, Metallic Materials and Elements for Flight Vehicle Structures, (Sept. 15, 1976, as amended through December 15, 1978). This incorporation by reference was approved by the Director of the Federal Register in accordance with 5 U.S.C. section 552(a) and 1 CFR part 51. Copies may be obtained from the Naval Publications and Forms Center, 5801 Tabor Avenue, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19120. Copies may be inspected at the FAA, Rotorcraft Standards Staff, 4400 Blue Mount Road, Fort Worth, Texas, or at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). For information on the availability of this material at NARA, call 202-741-6030, or go to: http://www.archives.gov/federal_register/code_of_federal_regulations/ibr_locations.html.
(5) Pulleys must have close fitting guards to prevent the cables from being displaced or fouled.
(6) Pulleys must lie close enough to the plane passing through the cable to prevent the cable from rubbing against the pulley flange.
(7) No fairlead may cause a change in cable direction of more than 3°.
(8) No clevis pin subject to load or motion and retained only by cotter pins may be used in the control system.
(9) Turnbuckles attached to parts having angular motion must be installed to prevent binding throughout the range of travel.
(10) There must be means for visual inspection at each fairlead, pulley, terminal, and turnbuckle.
(e) Control system joints subject to angular motion must incorporate the following special factors with respect to the ultimate bearing strength of the softest material used as a bearing:
(1) 3.33 for push-pull systems other than ball and roller bearing systems.
(2) 2.0 for cable systems.
(f) For control system joints, the manufacturer's static, non-Brinell rating of ball and roller bearings must not be exceeded.

Code of Federal Regulations

[Doc. No. 5074, 29 FR 15695, Nov. 24, 1964, as amended by Amdt. 27-11, 41 FR 55469, Dec. 20, 1976; Amdt. 27-26, 55 FR 8001, Mar. 6, 1990; 69 FR 18803, Apr. 9, 2004]