If the elevators had lost continuity along their hinge line, that should leave one operating, and one in trail. Since the assembly (gross) seems to have survived a potential fracture, there could have simply been a misalignment between the two, as shown in your pic of VooDoo. Had there been an actual separation at the bell crank center, the elevators would have shown some level of partition in the video, I think.
The design of this system shows an obvious plan for symmetrical Stress.
From a design standpoint, had there been a desire to allow differential forces on each elevator, the Torque Tube would have been one piece, not halves. The bell horn would have been halved, and surrounded the tube, in clam shell, or other, perhaps splines, allowing for erm, Torque.
Defeating this design (disabling trim on one side) appears to have some drawbacks in operation.
Machinbird's catch on VooDoo shows a greater up load on the left elevator, consistent with carrying chronic ND trim with only one elevator.
Nitpick. The picture of the elevator with tab on the bench is of the Ghost, not VooDoo. The image signature is "Scott Germain" proprietary to GG. So, we do not know the method of attachment of the tube to the retainer/cup on VooDoo. Likewise, the "Rivets" might be bolts; The join carries such stress, aluminum fasteners seem wrong.
Old Fat One. Absolutely, that word was not NTSB-ish. It was probably Jackson's. In American, "Fluke" means "Next to impossible" and "unrelated to responsibility". The only way to convey more innocence would be to call it an "Act of God".
Last edited by Lyman; 7th Oct 2011 at 22:41.