Somethin' Extra tail supports

Apr 10, 2004 8 Replies

Greetings,



I am currently finishing a Sig Somethin' Extra and am considering whether or not to include the wire tail supports. The tail section seems pretty sturdy, and I would like to know if the tail supports are worth the effort.



Has anyone had any incidents of tail failure or flutter when not using the supports?



Thanks for your comments,



Mike


Dunno 'bout the Sig kit, but the 1/3 scale Ace Extra 230 tail structure looks pretty sturdy too, and the instructions say if the tail wires are not installed the tail _will_ fail.

Cheers, Fred McClellan The House Of Balsa Dust

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During mild flying, the tail would hold up. But if plan on oin aerobatics, I would advise using them! Really not that much work is, it?

Earl

Better safe than sorry. The time will be well spent, and they look really good. Donald

Rule of thumb.....on aerobatic flyers, if the tail surfaces are flat, use braces; if they have an airfoil, don't need the braces. As with any rule of thumb, you milage may vary.....

I'm working on the same AC and although it is not explicitly spelled out, I'm putting them in as I'd rather put them on and not need them than not put them on and have a catastrophic failure in mid Lomchevak.

I built mine with the wire supports and have a TT Pro .46 on the nose. I have the CG way behind what the instructions recommend. The tail wires not only add peace of mind to sturdiness, but help move the CG back where it needs to be.

tim

I did not install them on mine........PLUS I made my elevators and rudder much larger than stock, and with counterbalances on both. Never had a failure thru about 50 flights or so, at which time I got smacked into by a guy with a trainer while I was torque rolling. I learned a lesson that day, do your 3D stuff when nobody else is flying

the tail wires are not necessary on a model this size

Brad

Hi Mike,

I would definitely use them. The balsa sections for the horizontal stab and vertical fin in my kit were extremely light weight pieces and I would not trust them without the additional wire supports. The only headache with attaching them for me was fitting the 2-56 hardware in the holes in the half clevis pieces. I had to drill out the holes slightly larger. The clevis is hardened steel and does not drill well. I think I went through 3 cheap bits just trying to drill them. If someone has a better way to do it I would appreciate knowing it for future endeavors. Good luck with the SE. For me I'm having a blast flying it.

-WYDAH

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