RCU Forums - View Single Post - My first ARF, should I re-glue and strengthen?
Old 02-02-2004 | 01:48 PM
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Default RE: My first ARF, should I re-glue and strengthen?

Chris
As an ARF er for 14 years now I would say yes to reinforcing the load bearing joints.
landing gear mounting lumber where it is attached to any part of the plane. The wing attach points where the brace goes to attach the two halves. The horizontal and vertical stab where it attaches to the fuse.
Be liberal with the blue but be smart..more glue equals more weight but it wont be much since the 3D planes always have extra engine to pull along. However CG could be an issue.
A small trick which may or may not do much on the vertical stab is that ot it just has a slot and groove and it gets emoxied, do this:
Take 3 or 4 toothpicks and insert them into drilled holes along the bottom of the vertical stab so about 1/2 inch sticks out. (Epoxy the toothpicks in place)
Trial fit it on the tail where it belongs and note the place where the toothpicks make a mark in the wood.
Drill holes where the toothpicks should go slightly less than the diameter of the toothpicks.
Apply epoxy to the holes and the toothpicks them selves and join the peices, wipe any excess.
The toothpicks provide some lateral structural strength, more that just the epoxy would give for a miniscule weight addition
Be sure the toothpicks inside the fust do not interfere with the rudder or elevator linkages prior to this and cut accordingly.
This gives some lateral strength to that surface and be sure to use tape when it is drying and that it is square.

Also, to add some brace strength to the wing joint, a 2 inch 1/4 dowel in the trailing edge of the wing is something I like to add, ans long as the trailing edge has a solid block to drill through.