Recovering a plane and need help with hinges
12-20-2014, 03:11 PM
#1
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Recovering a plane and need help with hinges
I am stripping and recovering an entire plane. This is a .60 size plane with a 70 inch wingspan. My main question what do most of you do when you get to the ailerons and tail feathers? This old plane had CA hinges and I want to replace them with pivot point hinges. How do most of you replace your old hinges and then recover the parts? Any advice would be helpful. I am going to post this in more than one forum so if you answer here do not worry if you see it somewhere else.
Last edited by MudbugnTX; 12-21-2014 at 07:51 PM.
12-20-2014, 06:35 PM
#2
My Feedback: (3)
Biggest issue will be that planes designed for CA hinges do not normally have enough structure inside the trailing edge of the wing/stab (or leading edge of the aileron/elevator) to adequately support pivot point hinges. If the existing surfaces are not fully sheeted, then it should not be a big deal to add some balsa blocks where the hinge points will be installed. If they are fully sheeted, then you need to decide if you're willing to go through the work of cutting open the sheeting, adding the blocks, and patching up the sheeting.
If I were replacing CA hinges with hinge points, I would just slice off the old CA hinges flush with the leading/trailing edges with an exacto knife. You could decide to install the hinge points in the same number and location as the CA hinges or move them and probably get away with fewer hinge points. I would add the balsa blocks, drill for the hinge points, make sure everything fits and lines up, and then disassemble for covering the surfaces before gluing them in.
If you strip the plane and the old CA hinges are still solid, you can recover right over them. Just cap the ends of the aileron and the wing first with a small piece of covering. Then you can use a single piece of covering to cover the top or bottom of the wing and aileron in one shot. When you get to the back of the wing and secure it to the trailing edge, you can then slice the covering between the wing and the aileron ends, deflect the aileron to its max, and use a trim iron to iron the covering down the bevel at the trailing edge of the wing and back up the leading edge of the aileron. Its easy to do, strengthens the hinges, and improves the aerodynamic efficiency of the control surface.
If I were replacing CA hinges with hinge points, I would just slice off the old CA hinges flush with the leading/trailing edges with an exacto knife. You could decide to install the hinge points in the same number and location as the CA hinges or move them and probably get away with fewer hinge points. I would add the balsa blocks, drill for the hinge points, make sure everything fits and lines up, and then disassemble for covering the surfaces before gluing them in.
If you strip the plane and the old CA hinges are still solid, you can recover right over them. Just cap the ends of the aileron and the wing first with a small piece of covering. Then you can use a single piece of covering to cover the top or bottom of the wing and aileron in one shot. When you get to the back of the wing and secure it to the trailing edge, you can then slice the covering between the wing and the aileron ends, deflect the aileron to its max, and use a trim iron to iron the covering down the bevel at the trailing edge of the wing and back up the leading edge of the aileron. Its easy to do, strengthens the hinges, and improves the aerodynamic efficiency of the control surface.
12-21-2014, 03:13 PM
#3
[QUOTE=MudbugnTX This old plane hag CA hinges and I want to replace them with pivot point hinges. How do most of you replace your old hinges and then recover the parts? Any advice would be helpful. I am going to post this in more than one forum so if you answer here do not worry if you see it somewhere else.[/QUOTE]
You ask the question what would I do and I find Ca hinges very durable and would not replace any hinges arbitrarily just because you feel better about another type of hinge. If all hinges are unbroken then I would leave them alone. I have many type of aircraft that have CA hinges all the way up to my first turbine (nano).
You ask the question what would I do and I find Ca hinges very durable and would not replace any hinges arbitrarily just because you feel better about another type of hinge. If all hinges are unbroken then I would leave them alone. I have many type of aircraft that have CA hinges all the way up to my first turbine (nano).
12-21-2014, 03:16 PM
#4
Moderator
Agreed, there is no reason to change the hinge type on your plane. If the hinges are in good shape, leave them alone and cover around them. You can do that by ironing your covering right up to the hinge line, then cutting a slot in the covering to allow for the hinge so you can poke the covering through the space between them. Of course, it also works to just press the covering into the hinge slot and cover the wing and aileron all in one piece. No one will ever notice the difference.
