Well, the epoxy is drying right now. I made a mistake on one side in that I used the cutoff wheel (and broke two of them) instead of the sanding roll to get rid of the existing balsa ply under the old horn. I ended up with a depression in the balse on that side. So I had to put another couple of pieces of balsa between the rudder and new horn. I used thick epoxy (mixed a lot of filler filler after I had thoroughly mixed the epoxy parts together) to install the ply. I took an eye ball measurement just locating the horn as far back towards the hinge line but the holes still dont line up with the rudder line- there is a mm or two of difference with the holes being behind the rudder line. I will have to live with that. Once I am done, I will post pics again

Ameyam

I just had a marathon 6.5 hr stint trying to fix the rudder horns. Main problem was getting the screws to lineup with the horn plate on the other side. I was getting two to go thru but the remaining didnt seem to lineup. Also, the stock bolts I had were not long enough. In my city, you will get machine screws only where there are workshops or industries and the local hardware stores dont carry them (dont ask me why), so I was about to give up when I remembered I had longer screws and cut them to the length I wanted. I used washers both sides with spring washer under the nut and a nylock nut. That ain't coming off. I only got up bcoz mom sprouted horns (he, he...) after it was 12am

Here's the finished product. Its a bit agricultural but strong I think. If these horns prove to be good, I am going to stock a bunch of them to use on all control surfaces on my H9 Funtana and Goldwing MX2 30cc. The Phoenix Extra was always meant as a testbed to test things I was going to use on those including the engine

By the way, I have this gap between the wing and the fuse since the very beginning. If you turn the airplane on its side and shake it, the wing moves relative to the fuse. The fuse is heavily reinforced from inside. The airplane did jink unnervingly to one side last week when coming in to land, though I am not sure whether that was due to the gusty winds and my nerves. Is there something I can do to the hardware setup to prevent the movement of the fuse and wing?

Ameyam

The gap is not bad at all, I have seen much worse. Have you noticed how most of the aerobatic ARFs now have the wing going into an airfoil shaped pocket in the side of the fuse? I'm pretty sure it's to save time by not having to match the root rib perfectly with the fuse side. Anyways, what you have there will not affect flight one bit. I know I have said this to you once before and it's not really what you would like to hear but I think the airplane is just not capable of what you are looking for. Gain some experience from it and then if you are serious about really learning some advanced aerobatics then move on to a more capable airplane.

I know it not capable of 3D. The idea always was to test out the hardware- the engine (my first gas), TX setup and small things like the rudder horn so I could use these confidently in my more capable airplanes. But if its an impending problem, I will like to know of it before I damage the very things I am testing. Note that I have already started looking for the replacement in 20cc (the others are larger)

Ameyam

Re the gap: Is the joiner tube a tad too long and preventing the wing halves from pulling up tight? Taking a skosh off the end of the tube might be the cure.

Jack