You bored people with the Flip, get a Funtana for Christ's sake.

foofydoo (can i ask were that name came from?) ive gotone of those heavy duty JR switches with in build charge thing silicone wires. thats what i use cos i dont want to crash either as ive got about 400 quid in my plane and i cant afford it if it crashes

I have been reading this thread with interest and I'll now weigh in on the Flip 3D with the supplied metal hinges: They are CRAP!

I epoxied them in when I orginally assembled the model. After flying one day, I storing the model and noticed that there was some abnormal play in the rudder and elevator. I pulled a little and they came right off! I reglued them in, and then drilled and pinned them in place with metal pins.

Another day, I was flying and the right aileron literally came off and was held on by the control linkage! Believe it or not, I was able to get the model down thanks to its slow flying characteristics and the large throws of the elevator/rudder/left aileron. I pulled off the left aileron when I got home, removed the metal hinges on the ailerons and put in CA hinges.

Lastly, I was flying and noticed play *again* in my tail, and the metal hinges were actually breaking along the hinge line!. I pulled the rudder/elevator off, cut the wood off the trailing edge of the horizontal stab, and the end of the fuselage, replaced the wood, then put in CA hinges.

Since I have had CA hinges in this plane, I haven't had any more trouble. The epoxy I used to glue the metal hinges in was good, since I have used it for other stuff since then that held, and I literally drown stuff in epoxy when I glue it. I can't explain why I had so many problems with the metal hinges, but the CA hinges worked best for me.

My 2 cents...

On any ARF this size I'd use CA hinges. There's no reason to use anything else.

BTW, the last time I bought a whole bag of them, they cost about $3.00 U.S. I still have a bunch left.

I swapped the metal hinges out imediatley. They start to rattle very quickly, (YS 63) - as seen on another flyer's plane. I used radio South mylar hinges and you have to pull the TE apart to get them to come out. Also it allowed a much tighter hinge-gap.

Strongly advise using the stab support wires. Don't ask why :-(

Looking for springier CF main gear legs to raise the nose a little for more "instant" take-offs....

E.

it's the knickname of my dog, cause he's stupid, only thing I could think of when signing up to RCU without having to have lots of numbers after it

Why?

I used ca hinges in my Flip, lots of flights, no problems, been using them since they came out with them. Used them in a couple of Hots that were flown very hard with no problems whatsoever. I also use playing cards between hinges and between control surface to get just the right gap. If you use the metal hinges remember to use some coarse sand paper to rough up the hinge on both sides to give the epoxy a surface it can stick to.