Ball Link Pliers

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What They Are and What They Are Used For:

These are special pliers for undoing and doing up ball joints on the connecting control linkages.

 

Examples of the connecting control linkages in the swash plate:

 

 

Helis use connecting rods to connect the various linkages and control surfaces.  As these need to move in multiple axis’s, a ball joint is used at the end of the linkages. 

 

Each joint is made of two parts – the ball and the linkage end.  The linkage end has a threaded hole that a threaded rod goes into.  By screwing the linkage end on the rod, the length of the connecting rod can be changed – which will then adjust the control connections on the heli.

 

IMPORTANT – the linkage ends have an “inside” and an “outside”.  The inside has a larger hole, and is the side that should be pushed onto the ball.  Some linkages have a marking on the linkage showing which is the outside of the linkage.  For example Align linkages have an “A” on the outside face.

 

 

How to use them:

 

Ball link pliers can be used to push the linkage onto the ball, remove the linkage from the ball or hold the linkages when adjusting them:

 

http://www.ehow.com/video_4412030_using-ball-link-pliers-rc.html