Mr. RAM Dean

I would agree with the comment that there was an insufficient bond to the mounting area. The other thing that may have contributed to the failure was the construction of the mounting area. Craftsmanship or material. I wasn't there, didn't see it, so I won't comment further.

In the end, I would say that when mounting control surfaces, no matter what style you choose, there are somethings that need to be watched carefully.

1) Tightness of the Hinge Line - The smaller the gap the better. No gap even better.
2) Alignment - All the hinge axes need to be in line in order to keep the control surface moving smoothly and minimize any extra work on the servo.
3) Mounting - Not only do you have to ensure that the hinges are glued in properly, but that what they are being glued to is strong enough to carry the forces generated by the surface in flight.
4) Maintenance - Checking the hinges every so often to ensure that they are still bonded in place and doing their job. There's nothing more painful than losing a $5000 - $6000 airplane because of a $0.50 hinge.

Just my $0.02CDN($0.012US)
SimJet Ed


BTW, where are the tanks?