Success!

Finally got the control column set up so it will stay in any position - no more yoke flopping around. It ain't pretty but it works. I figured the problem was that the lever points were too close to the fulcrum. To gain more leverage I needed to turn the strut supports at 90 degrees to the way I had them. Affixing to a round column was going to be a challenge so I cut down a couple of bits of plastic I had in the shop, temporarily screwed them together and drilled my mounting holes through both in one go (this ensured that they were equal on both sides). I then mounted the whole assembly and tested with just the 150n struts attached. It was almost enough to keep the column steady although I noted some slop. Once the other 100n struts were added, the thing is rock solid in any position.

At some point I may replace the plastic pieces with aluminum plates of the same size. For now though they will suffice. I know that the top struts are now proud of the frame but once the decking board goes down on top and I fashion a dome to slide down the column, you won't be able to see it.

Next for the yoke, I'll be putting in more substantial travel limiters (the little wooden blocks you see weren't up to the job), hooking up the potentiometers, will wire it all up and cross my fingers.

At Gianluca's suggestion, I purchased the excellent Boeing 737 Technical Guide from Lulu publishing. Interesting concept - you order the book and Lulu prints it for you. What wasn't so interesting is that their binding guy goofed:

All well until page 172, then it jumps to page 354 and counts down to page 171... whoops! So if you're reading this Bernd, assuming Lulu doesn't want this copy back and they send me a new one, this one's for you!

What else? Well, looks like I'll be heading back to Europe 3 more times between now and Thanksgiving (2 for work, 1 for pleasure) so the current slow progress will continue. Sorry.