Hi,
I attached a pic of the left wing tip of my EFlite Mini ShowTime. You can see that the aileron is deflected upwards. The inboard end of the aileron is at neutral in this pic... I noticed this twist in it only after installing the ailerons. Right aileron however is perfect.

I've been debating whether to try floating a covering iron over the underside of it while manually undoing the twist. As you might know, the aileron on this is NOT solid balsa and the structure is on the delicate side.

If I fly it this way, I'll be trimming to the right for sure obviously... a fair bit perhaps.

I can't decide whether to try flying it this way or try the delicate procedure of undoing the twist before flying it. Do you think it would be pretty difficult or easy to get that twist out of an aileron like on the Mini ShowTime?

Can't decide... arg.

Thanks

could you show a different angle i cant really see it


if you are handy with an iron you could undo as much of the covering as possible to expose the and spray the affected part and surrounding with a light mist of water... and put something straight and heavy enough to put sokme pressure on it and let it dry over night it should be straight again.... i did that procedure on a warped elevator halve not too long ago an it worked....but i used windex instead, i was too lazy to find and empty spray bottle

Thanks for help. I'm not handy at all with a covering iron. I was hoping that this was possible (and easily so) without removing any covering... for example: while holding the aileron straight, hover iron over wrinkles which appear as a result of holding the aileron straight. When the wrinkles shrink, the aileron will hold in the straight position... something like that, but I don't know if it would actually work out that way or if it would just get worse.

But if removing covering is the only way, then I can't do this. I stink at applying covering... tried it a couple of times... terrible.

I guess the picture I attached plays tricks on the eye a little, but it's a noticable amount of deflection right at the tip. The twist is very gradual along the length of aileron. I could try later to get a different angle of it that shows it better.

But I guess I just have to fly it like this and just trim it. It won't handle perfectly I guess. But I suppose I could try now and then the technique that I describe above to straighten it, but very gently trying not to "force a result"... maybe it would work (at least partly) eventually after a few tries.

Cheers

It's an easy fix but takes two pairs of hands. Have a buddy twist the aile just past flat the opposite way of the twist. This will make wrinkles in the covering. Take your heat gun and heat the wrinkles out. It is important that your buddy hold the twist during the heating and until it cools. A pair of gloves will help since you may be heating next to his fingers. When he lets go it will spring back a little and it should be straight. You can do this several times if need be.

David

Ok thanks for confirming that. So what I was thinking in essence can accomplish it safely then. Except that you're suggesting using a heat gun.

I'm actually able to just mask-tape the inboard end of the aileron to neutral and then push down the outer end tip. I see the wrinkles on the bottom side as I push down. I can use the other hand to apply heat.

Since it's attached to the wing I guess I'll need to make a card board "blast shield" for the wing if I use a heat gun.

I've ironed out wrinkles on solid balsa surfaces before using both iron and heat gun, but never over a delicate structure like this.

I might try with an iron first as that's more subtle... but it might not radiate enough to shrink the covering enough to tighten the structure. My "heat gun" by the way is actually a paint stripper that can be turned down to heat-gun levels. I've used that on solid surfaces before. None of the LHS's here seem to carry hobby heat guns for some strange reason.

Thanks

One more thing actually... the control horn is already epoxied on to the aileron (didn't notice the twist until after). I would need an insulating material to place around the control horn. Using a heat gun, the control horn would be in jeopardy. I'm trying to think of various materials that might be good in terms of fire proofness, insulating properties and ability to wrap securely around the horn, but haven't thought of a sure candidate yet.... other than like just card board.

Any better ideas than card board??

Thanks

edit: maybe that was a silly question... a little card board sandwhich taped closed with masking tape should be good enough.

If your more comfortable with the iron then use it. If you have a hot sock for it I would use that. Or if you have a kids 100% cotton sock in white it will also work. I use a gun because the straightening I have done was on a wing. When doing a big panel the gun is easier.

David

I did a few straightening sessions this evening with the heat gun (on pretty low heat setting). It's not perfect yet but it's definately improved... it's at least 50% better looks like. That's already going to improve flight a lot.

I stopped for now because I was noticing a side effect from not doing it perfectly... some covering between two ribs was getting a little looser. It's all good enough to fly though right now I'd say, so I'll quit while I'm ahead for now and make it perfect later after giving it some thought.

Maybe I'll try a go with the iron as well.

Thanks for the help