Poorbs,
You don't have to use the metal hinges, but I would definitely not use CA hinges. I used the metal hinges on mine and one hinge broke on the rudder after about 20 flights. I would recommend using a heavy duty flat plastic pinned hinge such as the Dubro heavy duty hinge like stomper recommended, or a Klett hinge.
I would also recommend using at least 4 hinges on the rudder, at least 3 hinges on each elevator, and at least 5 hinges on each aileron.
The rest of my metal hinges are holding up well so far, but I would use the heavy duty flat plastic hinges if I was doing it over again.


Stomper:
I have found that there are two main things you can do to make the YS 63 run like a charm:
1. Use a fuel with low viscosity oil and 30% nitro. I use the Magnum "DZ blend" fuel. Another good one is the Cool Power 30% heli fuel.
2. Adjust the valve clearance so it is as small of a gap as you can get, while still being able to know that you do have a gap. I don't even use a feeler gage on mine. I just adjust the gap to get it as small as possible.


Jaco:
Sorry for your loss.



Jim