Originally Posted by
dbsonic
My sense is that the this type of hinge does well under loading in the "tensile" direction but not so much in a shearing direction(90 degrees to the surface).
Agreed. I noticed the elevon hinges starting to tear on my Skymaster Gripen. After trying several things I finally put a bead of clear silicone about an inch long on the underside of the hinge area at each end. This seemed to prevent it from getting any worse. Then when I put my F4 together I added silicone beads as a preventive measure. However, I need a bunch more flights before I can say that it's a permanent fix.