Which Glue

Personal opinion -- I'd clean it wekk, then use 5 min. epoxy -- and then add some triangle stock on either side.

Lyman is a buddy of mine, and I hate to disagree with him, but I must. I've had several bad experiences with 5 min epoxy setting up too fast to properly soak into the wood. It creates a surface bond that will peel apart under force.

Use thin CA on balsa and thick on plywood. Use the thin to wick deep into the joint, and a little thick to make a small fillet. If you must use epoxy, use a slow set (2-3 hours or overnight) and clamp the joint securely. Rough the wood with 80-100 grit sandpaper at the contact points. Dr.1 Driver "There's a Hun in the sun!"

I have to disagree with both of you. The stronger you make the joint, the more likely that the entire back end of the airplane will get broken off. I usually glue tail fins on with CA glue, no fillets, and no notching into the fuselage. If the tail gets knocked off, I just glue it back on with CA. It's good enough for air loads. My brother in law took the whole tail section off his Aerostar trainer by stepping on the stabilizer, and that was a good enough lesson for me.

You must build to fly, not build to crash. If the joints will withstand flight loads, then they are strong enough. Dr.1 Driver "There's a Hun in the sun!"

Use 30 minute epoxy for reattaching.

This very opinion was voiced by a guy who does a LOT of building for different members of our local club. Within ten minutes of him expressing this opinion, we were watching a 4 Star 60 that he had just completed. On one pass, the tail of the plane looked funny. It was a little hard to see, covered in Black monokote. I commented on it, got others to looking, we saw that the stab was coming lose. Luckily, he was just going through the first flight jitters with it and not doing anything radical. He managed to get it back on the ground safely. To his credit, the builder said. "Well, so much for THAT idea!" He now uses epoxy.

"> I have to disagree with both of you. The stronger you make the joint,

Personally, I would use 30 minute epoxy.

How about using polyurethane glues (like Gorilla)?

I'd be careful with Gorilla glue because of it's foaming action, it could stress the wood, and cause the foam to seap inside the fuse and stick to the control rods. Maybe another polyurethane glue that doesn't foam as much as gorilla might be better.

Depends on how it broke off. If you can strip away the covering and the parts fit together real well, then some medium CA will work fine. If there are gaps or the wood is mangled, I would use 5 minute epoxy. Either way, if the break is flush with the fuselage, some small triangle stock will greatly strengthen it.

Those glues are generally designed for larger surface areas like sheeted wings and furniture building. I doubt that it would be as strong on a small joint areas.

It depends on the airplane and the design of the tail. I put my Mighty Barnstormer together with epoxy on the tail. I also built a Pipsqueak (020 powered high-winger from RCM catalog). It weighs 6 ounces ready to fly and has a 25 inch wingspan. Of course I used thick CA on the tail of that plane.

Personally, I build my models to withstand flight loads, not foot traffic.

Something not yet mentioned is whether the airframe has suffered any oil seepage - don't know of an adhesive which bonds well to oil, so cleaning the broken bits is a priority, methinks. Cheers, Fred McClellan the dash plumber at mindspring dot com

Just my 0.02 worth but I always use titebond II and triangles stock for reinforcment. Works great for me.

tomb

The repair is BEHIND THE CG ! To me this means the lighter glues (TitebondII) work well and cure out with less weight. That one issue is a major challenge to many beginners. I remember LOL!