Hello everyone,

I'm just starting out building my first plane, a Midwest Aero-star, and already I think I've whoopsed up something. The instructions start out with the Stabilizer/Elevator, and after being very proud of my sanding job, I've made the mistake of attempting to hinge it all together... without a hinging tool. So now I need some help fixing my mistake.

First, about the stab: It's constructed in 4 pieces: leading edge, trailing edge, and two small blocks at both tips.

The elevator: It's the entire length of the stab and is attached with 5 hinges (I bought dubro hinges).

The mistake: I think my slots are not centered right, and one or two might be slightly angled into the balsa. When I insert the hinges in the slots (or rather force them in, the slots are very thin and I have to wiggle the hinges into the slots), and attach the elevator, the stab gets bent slightly, so that the elevator can't be straightened out: it either snaps up, or down.

What can I do about this? I'm assuming that the slots I've cut are not perfectly centered, causing the stab to warp, but when sanding the elevator, I also noticed that there was a very small (almost unnoticable) warp in the elevator.

I've already decided to buy myself a hinge slotter and try to 'fix' the slots, but this brings me to another question: How 'loose' should the hinge be in the slot?

Also, if with the hinge slotter I can't 'fix' the slots, would it be better to buy myself some balsa with the same grain as the stab and elevator and just 'start over'. Or can I fill the slots with balsa filler and either redo the slots at the same location or cut some new slots beside the old ones?

Any help will be appreciated!

Savi "Slot dumb" Savard.