I HAVE RECENTLY ASSEMBLED MY NEW 1/3 SCALE PITTS, IT IS BY FAR THE BEST BUILT ARF I HAVE EVER OWNED, I HAVE A G-62 INSTALLED IN IT, I HAVE BUILT MANY PLANES WITH CA HINGES & NOT HAD ANY FAILERS WITH THEM, BUT I AM NOT SURE ABOUT THIS PLANE WITH THIS AMOUNT OF POWER.
ANY HELP ON THIS MATTER WOULD BE APPRECIATED

I don't know if this helps but I've used CA hinges on two large scale planes. A Dynaflite chipmunk with a Ryobi 31cc and an ACE 4-120 Bipe (70" W/S) with a ST2500. I have suffered no failures to date. I have just completed a 85 inch Corsair with these hinges and expect to have the same success.

Happy Flying!

LOOPMAN

I have the same combination that you have G. P. Pitts with CA hinges and a G-62 which I have not flown yet. I would be interested in hearing about your flight performance, I have many othe planes with CA hinges that have worked with satisfaction .

On a plane of that size, I would use the 1/4 scale nylon hinges with the pin. You get stronger hinges, and the movement of surface is very free with less gap. Daz...

I would say use them. As long as you make sure you cut a little of the covering away from the hinge point and make sure you saturate the hinge on both side with Thin CA you should be alright. I've used plasitc hinges and robart hinges before in the past and don't like to use them. I have had bad CA hinges before but it was because of what they where made of in my older kits. The glue did not pentrate it at all. With the CA hinges being fiberous and the wood being fiberous you should have a good bond that will last. The guys in my club use CA hinges on their giant stingers with G62s and fly 3-d with them and never had a hinge failure. I did see a H9 Ultra Stick fly and have the ailerions rip out but after landing (yes he did save it) and on inspection it was found the Hinges never broke, The surrounding wood was way to soft and weak and that's what broke free. This just my opinion....LOL I'm building my TCraft now and I'm using the CA hinges that came with it. I have a ZDZ 40 for power.

Just flew mine today.... Hinges no problem...no flutter and tight gap. Plans say drill a small hole in the center of hinge cutout to help CA wick in...works great. Go with the plans. Everything was
fine read my suggestions above about engine preference and suggestions. I also would instead of using springs on steerable tail wheel I just soldered a direct pushrod off the rudder servo pushrod straight to the tail wheel. Works better and more control on the grass.
Be sure to beef up the front firewall if running a gas engine and mount the throttle servo inside the fuse not in the engine compartment as plans say. I think you could pick-up radio interference from the ignition.
Any other questions let me know.
Flyguy.

Not knowing how heavy your into fly-ins, ie AMA/IMAA events,
the Ca hinges will not pass tech. inspection. You will not be allowed to fly until they're changed to something like the Robart
elbow style - at least the 1/4 scale kleet hinges. It's scary to
spend that much money and that size of plane to risk it on those
hinges. Too much of a chance for flex flutter even if you tape the joint. Ok, you say your not in the IMAA , think of the safety of the
others at the field. I'm not anti-Ca hinges , they're on a couple of my 40 size planes.

A few years ago the IMAA High Flight magazine published a study
that UV rays over time caused deterioration of the soaked hinge
material causing a failure of the hinge then flutter and you know
the possible next step.

You can read the safety sanctions as outlined by IMAA at their website. It does not say that CA hinges are prohibited, instead in says that hinges "should" be made specifically for large scale use. A large CA hinge fills that requirement. As for the hinge breaking down under UV light, I would think you would have to bake them under a UV commercial sun light! Some of this testing "ca-ca" is biased to promote one type of product over another. As for flutter, a CA hinge does not induce nor contribute to flutter. Hinge installation, control surface gap, servo horn selection, using servos not rated for the intended flight surface, contribute to flutter.

Tests have also shown that all brands of epoxy breakdown over time and will loosen, does this mean that the Robart hinges and Klett hinges will come loose and produce flutter? In my opinion,CA hinges are safer, when properly installed, than any other hinge. Robart hinge points will over time weaken at the hinge pin.

One final thought, if you build it right it will last. Improperly installed equipment, regardless of the quality, will fail!

Happy Flying!

LOOPMAN

"" Just use your head""


If you use more hinges than what is called for you will have no problem at all!!

If, ...on the other hand,.... you use 3 hinges per aileron...the shacking will tear them !!

Also... double up on the outer and inner portions of the control serfaces...this is where the shacking will have the most stress

My bigger planes have easily twice as many hinges as what is called for !!!

Hey Guys,
I was just pointing out I havn't ever had a failure with hinges. In fact I use Robart on all my warbirds. On this Pitts I pulled maybe 40 lbs of pressure on both side of hinge line and couldn't move them. I think a pushrod would probably fail first.
I have flown in a alot of IMAA events. Last month Pilots did their own inspections on their planes and signed a document it was safe. Its important to always do a safety inspection before every flight. I have seen many well built planes and pilots but with many of them I have yet to see in every case a well done range check with engine running. They just assume no radio interference.
I'll continue to use both style of hinges on all my planes and feel very safe with either one as long as I check them and pull on them everytime.
Most accidents are from pilot error, Pushing the envelope alittle too much.
All comments are welcomed and appreciated. We can never be safe enough.
Safe flying,
Bob