hnesitd1

I consider myself a builder with some degree of experience. Recently, one of my trainers suffered some extensive damage to the rear fuselage area. (Great Planes, PT40). By observation the quickest and most economical fix would be to crop the fuselage (several inches) - the tail feathers have to be rebuilt with 1/4 inch stock. I have soloed so you're not dealing with a complete rookie. I'm trying to refurbish the beast without adding a lot of weight. (in an area where a builder does NOT want extra weight, eh?). I figure that some leaverage will be lost in control but hope to compensate with a larger elevator. Here's the question - what do you guys figure the flying characteristics will be with the shorter fuselage - advice on landing, etc. would be helpful. Comments? Thanks..

swooper

I don't see why you can't rebuild at the original length with reasonable weight. Short doublers at the joint between front and new rear sections shouldn't add much.

OTOH, if you shorten 10 percent, add 10 percent to all surfaces to retain the intial stability.