BenG60

I see a few different ways of making a skinned hinge, and a few different materals being used, has any of you tried laying 2 layers of 1.4oz glass cloth on the bias over the hinge area on top of the .75 cloth, and then bag it, ?

PylonDave

Yes, but i do it below the .75 top layer. It works great.

vicman

My Feedback: (10)

After having the glass and even carbon break down over time I now use kevlar for the hinge.

sahartman21

I've used an extra layer of 2 ounce fiberglass cloth for the hinge. It was not biased though.

The fiberglass cloth hinge looked the best initially but gave up after a few flights.

Many people swear by Kevlar fabric. If you have it then use it.

I'm now using taffeta, peel ply, or window shear material and have not had issues with hinge failure. With any of these materials you must seal all the pinholes or they will be visible after painting.

djlyon

I use epoxy based sheet fiber glass .005 thick CAed in place. Never had an issue or failure.

Denis

Scorpion Racing

Hi Ben. I use a couple of different methods. If the wing is a foam core balsa sheeted than I use the .005 fiberglass sheets (G10 sheet) cut on the bias and applied with laminating resin. This has held up to 424, 426 & 428 speeds with no issues. For a molded wing, I have been using a peel ply hinge under the .75 oz. fiberglass outer skins. I have also had no issues with this method but have only been testing them for about 6 months. I know others who have used peel ply hinges or nylon strips also with great results. Here are some pictures of the foam core tail and main wing with the sheet hinges, and the molded v-tail with the peel ply hinge.

BenG60

thanks for all your input ive used the .10 glass board on the bias for ail on a foam core wing, but having to sand down the surface to get the board flush, and then filling every thing around it is pretty time consuming, just trying to look for somthing quick and clean

twitte1

Ben, check this link to a build thread for a wing. The way that Scott does his hinges you will not have to fill around the hinge to make it flush.

http://sempra.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=34

Trey

djlyon

Mask over the glass sheet hinge before glassing the whole wing and glass right over the masking tape on the hinge. After the glass sets up cut around the edge of the masking tape and lift it off. Now with a little lite sanding you have a flush fit and no gaps. I like really easy also.

Denis

Scorpion Racing

Denis, that is a good idea with the .010 hinges. I prefer to use the thinner .005 thickness so that I can leave the .5 or .75 oz. cloth on top of the hinge. That allows me to sand everything flush and then add the final fiberglass layer over the entire surface. I also like the idea of the hinge glued in place top & bottom!

Where is Dave Norman, he started this crazy method!

djlyon

He sure did. All I have done is refine it a little to suit me. And suiting me means making it easy and fast.

Denis

daven

My Feedback: (1)

It wasn't me actually but a local racer here that showed me... I just showed you guys

daven

My Feedback: (1)

I love your idea with the Tape Denis!

djlyon

Dave I made 3 or 4 planes exactly your way and decided that skinning out a seat for the henge and sanding it was too much work. Especially because had to do some filling to take care of my much less than perfect job. That's when I came up with the masking tape idea. I cover my tails with 2 layers of 2oz cloth for stiffness. I use .005 mil sheet for the henge and mask for the first layer of 2 oz cloth. The second layer I don't mask and glass over the henge. That gives me a good henge with enough stiffness and it is smooth. Here's a couple of pictures.

Denis

Rats, the pictures are too little to tell much.

djlyon

Better pictures. You can see there is almost no indication that a sheet glass henge is used.