Control surface removal

On 1/3/2005 1:45 PM Ted shuffled out of his cave and grunted these great (and sometimes not so great) words of knowledge:

You will not be able to put ANY type of hinge in the locations the hinges are in now.

The "standard procedure" for replacing CA hinges is to cut the old hinges, trim them flush and install the new hinges NEXT TO THE OLD ONES. The presence of CA at the present hinge position will not allow you to use those positions because the CA will have already soaked into the wood. Even Klett hinges pinned and epoxied would be highly suspect.

If you don't want to cut the hinges out, after stripping the plane/control surfaces, you can cut small strips of covering and work them between the control surfaces and iron them down. Then attach the covering to the strips. FWIW - this is usually more trouble than it is worth.

The other option is to carefully cut out a section of the trailing edge slightly larger than the width of the hinge and replace same with a substitute section of balsa cut as closely as possible to size and glue in place. Then re-cut the hinge slots. I have used this technique many times. the key is to get a good (tight) balsa fit. Make the insert oversize and sand to trailing edge profile after the glue is dry. I use aliphatic resin. Just try and pull it out.

Thanks for the advice. I knew that I wouldn't be able to use CA hinges in the same location as the glue wouldn't be able to penetrate the wood. Guess I mispoke. I don't have the coodination to do a respectable job recovering without removing the surfaces, so I'll be replacing the hinges. Any preferences out there on the type to use? BTW, this is a 300s with about a 62" ws powered by an ASP .91 2 stroke, so I guess that what I'm asking is what are the best hinges for this application? Pardon my ignorance, but can you tell me what a "Klett" hinge is?

Ted Campanelli wrote:

Bob Tomlinson

Aussie RC Enthusiast and Rugby Fanatic.

Thank heavens the USA hasn't discovered and packaged Rugby.

Is a monokote hinge appropriate for this airplane? Or perhaps another iron on hinge?

Use Robarts's Pin Hinges.

"Klett" is a brand name used, I believe, by Sig. It's a standard leaf hinge with a metal pin as the hinge point. They are a little more trouble to install than CA or Robart's Pins, but are good hinges. Dr.1 Driver "There's a Hun in the sun!"

On 1/4/2005 8:53 AM Ted shuffled out of his cave and grunted these great (and sometimes not so great) words of knowledge:

Not really. This is a fast, aerobatic plane powered by a 91. The control surfaces are going to have a good amount of pressure on them. I would not trust the hinge to a piece of monokote or an iron on hinge on a plane like this.

Yes, if the barb does not have enough depth to sit in, it WILL come out. Saw a guy eat a Cub that way one day.

The Klett line used to be handled by CG, I don't recall who bought it.

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I have used epoxy and polyurathane glues effectively. I like the polyurathane glue, but it is a lot more work in this application..

Since you are going the robart pin hinge way I thought I would give you my meathod of preparing hinges.

I have an old sardine tin full of "Vaseline". I assume you get it in the US. I think its Petroleum Jelly. I got a jar of it (plastic) and scooped it into my tin.

I put the tin over low heat on the stove or bbq till the vaseline melts then carefully dip the hinge bit of the pin hinge into it with the hinge bent to a V I then wiggle the ends a bit to ensure that the vaseline has penetrated.

The hinges are then laid on paper towel to absorb any excess vaseline then wiped (only hinge bit) with a damp thinners soaked rag.

I then epoxy the p>Wow! I knew I'd get some responses, but I'm really surprised by the

Bob Tomlinson

Aussie RC Enthusiast and Rugby Fanatic.

Thank heavens the USA hasn't discovered and packaged Rugby.

Robarts

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