RE: Acceptable aileron hinge gap for a Trainer?
TimePilot,For the perfect hinging job, you want to glue two strips of wood. Take an imaginary line that extends the CL of the torque rod toward the wingtips and that should be your new hinge line. Fill from that line to the TE of the wing, that will become the new TE of the wing, and glue that solid to become a perminent, non-moving part of the wind. It's actually a very easy step. Just use a balsa wood strip that is slightly wider than the wing and sand to fit after the glue cures. Now glue a piece of wood to the LE of the aileron that brings the LE of that aileron to the imaginary line. This is also an easy job.
If you use slightly thicker wood and sand to fit after the glue dries, the glue seams will be zip. Won't be a clue anything was different about this part of the build.
You don't want to try to cover anything that is going to move under the cover. Since the torque rod is going to turn with the aileron, cover it from the aileron side. When you cover the aileron you'll cover it with the aileron.
RCKen,
That fix will close the hinge gap, but unfortunately, there will be a really bad result. If your filler moves some of the aileron hinge line forward of the aileron hinge line that already exists where the torque rod is you'll bind the aileron movement.
The torque rod has established an axis right down the center of it. It's the imaginary line that will become the hinge line when everything is assembled, ready to go. And that torque rod is going to try and force the aileron to hinge around that axis. When you glue wood to the aileron beyond where that axis runs, and then hinge where your new gap is between the wing and aileron, all the hinges are going to try to hinge where the new gap is while the torque rod is trying to get them to hinge back in the fill wood. The new LE of the aileron is going to want to go Up and Down a lot near where the torque rod is. And if there are CA hinges there, they're going to try to keep the LE of the aileron from moving Up and Down, and there will be binding.
It really isn't harder to glue in two strips of wood that follow the already established hinge line. It just takes a little more time. And if you don't take that time to give the aileron one hinge axis instead of two you'll have problems. We really want to have all the hinges on the same axis of rotation.