When building my US60, I noticed that the grain of the approx 1/4" thick balsa center section of the horizontal stab runs lengthwise with the fuselage. This is the part that is glued to the fuselage, but some of it is visible on either side. Normally the grain on models runs laterally for greater spanwise strength and to resist deflection. I don't know if this is typical for this model, and know of one manufacturer who has a standing rule with their factories to make sure it only runs laterally to avoid tail failures. I once had a plane with the grain the wrong way and this failure occured.

I am thinking of adding tail struts for some insurance.

1. Has anyone else noticed this? Which way does your grain run?
2. Has anyone had a tail failure such as a cracked leading or trailing spar?
3. Anybody add tail struts or flying wires?

Also, since I'll be using a YS91FZ, which is heavier than the Saito 91 or 100, I definitely want the servos in the rear. Was planning on the pull-pull setup like Termagator posted. Definitely for rudder, but not sure about it for elevator. Worried about it snagging in the grass I fly off. Thoughts on this?

Thanks

Put the flying wires on it and go nuts. I think the vertical fin is the weak point on the tail. I have a Saito 1.20 in mine and do power on blenders with it. Not adding power once the blender has begun, but pointing the nose straight down with full power, doing 3-4 rolls, anf THEN crossing the sticks. Not real kind to the airframe, but it has held up so far.

Geez,
now you guys got me wondering.
Guess I will have to pull my US 60 out and take a look at the tail!!
Pud

Furloughed,
How did you mount your servos with the heavier Saito 120? If you mounted them inside (stock) and used the internal pushrods, did you need to cut a hatch to put the battery in the rear, or did you just add tailweight?

Thanks

Lee, no wieght in the tail. the saito 1.20 is only a few oz more than the YS 91 with about the same power. I cut 2 hatches in the rear fuse area on the bottom. I put 3 (E, R, T) servos and a 1400 MA battery as close to the tail as possible. I put the receiver in another hatch between the servos and the trailing edge. I would have put the reciever with the servos/battery, but then i would have needed 16" "aileron extensions" from the receiver to the wing. Considering I already had long servo runs in the wing, I wanted to keep the length of extensions as short as possible.
furloughed ual