somegeek

My Feedback: (2)

I thought I'd read about folks installing aileron torque rods without tubes in smaller planes... They carve a channel in the TE stock for the torque rod and harden the channel with glue. Is this a proven method?

somegeek

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

SG, I use that method now, learned here at RCU. It is possible to screw it up, just make sure the torque rods are well greased and with no tool marks. If you do screw it up, cut out the "botch job" and try it again. It is worth learning to do, it is a superior way to rig those ailerons.

somegeek

My Feedback: (2)

Thanks, CP. Just confirming, Do you polish/grease the torque rod, apply glue to the channel/TE/rear spar, glue things together and then move/break the torque rod loose once things set up?

I might rig up a guinea pig with some scrap to get my method down before I attempt this on my build.

somegeek

vicman

My Feedback: (10)

I do it too. It works fine. I use vaseline on the rods and baby powder in 5 min epoxy. The baby powder is to thicken it up.

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

For 1/2A-.15 ailerons I use 2-56 threaded control rods. The finish on the wire is pretty good, but you have to put the clamping force on the axle side of each bend to keep from warping the axle. Take the time to roll the axle to prove that it is warp free and sand out any obvious blemishes in the axle. The stub that you bend to actuate the balsa flap should be ground to a chisel shape if you plan on airfoiling or tapering the flap to a sharp trailing edge. Otherwise, you will hit metal when you start shaping the finished surface.
I place the greased rods in the channels and dam the ends with clay. This will keep the axles centered on the hinge line and prevent epoxy from oozing out. Then fill the trenches with epoxy just shy of the finished surface if you can. You can fill the rest later with spackle. Make sure the epoxy has kicked before you play with the linkage. I have had one turn out a little bit stiff and had to work it a little to free it up. The axle probably wasn't real straight.
Good luck, I know you'll ace it on the first try.

longdan

I used this method on a DNU and a SS and it worked great both times. Done exactly as described above, except i used a fairly thick micro balloon epoxy mix and silicone grease on the torque rods. it is 100% slop free, and 0 resistance, like it is running in tiny ball bearings.
I was dubious at first until I tried it. Now I wouldn't bother with tubes again.

vicman

My Feedback: (10)

I align mine a little diffrent from CP. I dryfit the control surface on the hinges and dam off the end with masking tape...same basic idea it just gives me time and convenience of being able to glue the hinges later.

It also works for full flying tails like on an F-16. I did mine with brass tube and puddled the glue into a bearing on each side of the fuse.

pleanty of lube

longdan

Rather than carve a trench in the top surface of the TE, this is how I do mine. I think ths is the method shown on the plans for the DNU.
The trench is carved in the mating face where the TE stock meets the TE spar. The 2 notches are to allow the rods to move back. Some corresponding notches need to be put in the spar to allow the rods to move forward.

OzMo

My Feedback: (3)

Anyone use a little candle or bee's wax on the rod to keep the epoxy from sticking?

mylamo

My Feedback: (1)

Wax and Crayola both work but after all these years
and many expreiments,otherwise known as using
whatever is handy,I find that motor oil is as good as
anything and better than Penn reel oil or Vasilene.
Ralph

boberos

Thanks for the tip.
Time saver & no sloppy fit.
Sounds great but I think i'll try it on scrap wood first, just to make sure it works for me.

Bob

DeviousDave

Here's how I do it, same process for foam wings as for built up:

The tubes are 1/16" aluminum, with the torque rod made of music wire. When you glue them down like in the pics and cover with epoxy/microballoons you will want to work a little vaseline into the rod/tube interface.

I have also had luck with simply gooping up the torque rod with vaseline and dropping it into the epoxy/microballoons. When it cures, you just flex the torque rod and it pops loose. you get a really good, slop free assembly this way but I prefer to use a tube because it makes getting the torque rod straight in the TE channel easier.

Toad

very good stuff

DeviousDave

Not that it matters relative to the rest of my post, but that wing has fiberglass hinges and a small patch under the servo and wing hard points. After the hardpoints are drilled thru, I just turn the wing over and countersink the screw holes for drywall screws. Love using them: they self tap, are REAL cheap, are hard to strip out, have a phillips head to keep from slipping and tearing up your wing with a sharp screwdriver, and most importantly:

....You can get them from a hardware store on a Sunday after dropping them in the grass.

Yuu

Why do you drop stuff in the grass??

KidEpoxy

Last few models I skipped the balsa TE taper stock behind the torque rods.
the wing ends with the epoxy embedded rods and the ailerons start just outside the fuse sides.

Rather than a "channel",
I wait till 5mil epoxy starts to thicken up and goop it up so the rod is on the 1/4" stock across the back of the ribs. Sometimes I need to come back & apply a second coating "outer shell" when I miss time the curing of the 5min epoxy

somegeek

My Feedback: (2)

I polished the portion of the torque rod which sits in the TE just a bit with aluminum polish and then added some grease. I glued them up in TE material yesterday using microballoons. I applied a bit of microballon/epoxy mix into the empty channels, placed the torque rods in there and then packed some microballon/epoxy mix on the outside and then pressed these onto some wax paper to squish the surface flat and let them dry. The results are excellent! Very solid mount and no wiggle room. Will certainly be using this method down the road.

I still need to hit the ends of the music wire with a Dremel.

somegeek

vicman

My Feedback: (10)

SG,
I usually use rod with the ends threaded so I can put one of those little nuts with a tang on it for the clevise to hook to. Otherwise I do the brass sheet horn/solder thing before I glue things togeather to avoid heat issues.

somegeek

My Feedback: (2)

I was planning to solder on the flattened/drilled brass tube pieces for horns... didn't think about heat transfer though. [X(]

vicman

My Feedback: (10)

Guess how I figured that out[sm=bananahead.gif][sm=stupid.gif]

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

I thought it was somegeek who invented using servo arms in place of [hard to find] aileron horn brackets?

somegeek

My Feedback: (2)

I don't know that I invented it, but I did make a thread after figuring it out on my own for use with threaded rods.

I guess I had a bit of a mental block with these not being threaded rods. I am wondering if I could get the horn to adhere to this rod if I scuffed it up with a tight fit?

somegeek

KidEpoxy

iir, the ServoArm trick is for threaded uprights, not smoothe piano wire / pushrod

I've had good luck with the flatened brasstube
if I lick(degreaser) the wire and rough it with a file before a dab of PU glue
and give the tube a few pliers crimps onto the wire at various angles
no heat problems

I did run into the tiny clevis pin hole in the brasstube
being too sharp for some cheap plastic clevis' pin I used. But only once, and it dont take much to chamfer the brass a wee bit since I saw it.

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

The "pre-packaged" aileron hookup kit that has a spring that you solder to the torque rods [to serve as threads].........anyone ever use that one? I think I gave it a shot twice, both times failed.

KidEpoxy

who had that trick with using a screw in a wheel collar on the upright?