hancop

Hi I have a something extra I am building and are at the aileron hinge install stage. The directions say to use a number 11 blade and cut the hinge slots about 1/2 inch deep. I am worried that when I do this I won't get the cut straight, and how do you ensure that the aileron leading edge and wing trailing edge line up straight so the aileron does not end up higher or lower than the wing ?

Is is worth while buying a hinging machine or is it just as easy with a knife and number 11 blade.

I am little scared about starting this phase, as I don't want to ruin the plane.

Any help would be greatly appreaciated.

Thanks

campbec

Hi Hancop,

If you arn't confident of centering the slots there are a variety of tools from different manufacturers that provide a mechanical means of centering the slots on the fixed and movable surfaces. These kits usually have different sized two pronged forks to make the slot and a pick to remove the material to allow the hinge to slide in. Check out your LHS or on line cattle dogs. Don't forget to pin the hinges

Redback

Make sure that you cut the hinge slots before you bevel the aileron and elevator LEs. As far as I recall the instructions suggest the other way round (I am just completing SE #2) but it's a lot easier to slot first.

I bought one of the fork type hinging kits, I gave up on using the forks but still find the centering tool that came with it useful.

Procedure I used is as follows:-

1. Make sure the ends that are to be slotted are flat. This especially applies to the wing TEs which should have been sanded flat.
2. Carefully mark centres where you want to cut the hinges. This is where I use the centering gadget, but only to draw a line (rather than to guide the forks).
3. Very carefully go along the line you have drawn with your #11 blade. If you don't get this first cut central it will be hard to correct later. I sometimes take a series of small nibbles along the line then join them up.
4. Once you have a guide line cut things get easier. Just keep working it deeper until you have the depth you need.

Hope this makes sense. Works for me but there are probably a million other ways.

Enjoy the SE but be aware that you are now in danger of becoming a serial SE builder! Just look around the forum and see how many people refer to their second or third SE. SE's do not encourage conservative flying.

Good luck


Terry

chris_in_montreal

My Feedback: (1)

Hi hancop, i had some SIG CA hinges in my LT-40 kit i built a few months back. I ended up ditching them and installed some du-bro pinned hinges instead for which the kind of tool campbec mentions is for (Dubro hinge slotter). This tool has a nifty guide which will center and correctly align the slots. The results were good in terms of how the surfaces lined up but i ended up leaving quite a large gap between static and moving surfaces which i later needed to seal (my own inexperience and not a problem with the tools). However I don't think the Dubro tool would work well with CA hinges as the thickness of the slot it cuts would be too wide for a wafer thin CA hinge. Maybe theres another similar tool for CA hinges?? I'm going to experiment with hinge points on my current build (SIG Kavalier) there's some really good information on this site:

http://airfieldmodels.com/index.htm

Although no experience with them I get the feeling that CA hinges are quite forgiving if not perfectly aligned because of their flexibility?

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

Do this:

Lay the stab or whatever flat on the table and with a straight sided ink pen, draw a line on the hinged edge (it will be close to center but not exact - that's OK)

now flip the stab and repeat.

You now have two lines that will help guide your razor blade straight.

Also, start with a few light cuts before cutting deep.