I need some advice on how to hinge my ailerons. I am building from scratch a smaller airplane 1/2 size airplane. the plans call out that the ailerons are just a single flat piece of wood and im guessing this to be around 1/8 inch thick. First, is there a technical name for this design other then "flat piece of wood" ?lol. My second question is what is the best way to hing this? I prefer the CA hinges.Do I cut the small slot in the narrow piece of wood or is there a better alernative method. I dislike torque tube.

Chad

Chad it all depends upon the airplane.

Usually a torque tube setup uses one servo in its application to control the ailerons with the servo being centered in the wing needs an inset of the torque rod in the aileron and the drilling of a pilot hole for the 90 degree rod which can get tricky in 1/8" stock. Whereas using CA hinges two servos are generally installed one in each wing controlled by using either a Y cord or two separate channels. Installing the CA hinges you will have to slot the aileron and wing side to install them which would probably be the better choice between the two systems from what you describe. Rounding the aileron stock where it meets the wing will allow freer hinging of the control surfaces. Other choices are small hinges which can also be slotted, the Robart system would be too large for the 1/8" stock.

Hope this helps tell us more about your airplane project.

You could use the old style controline hinging or the reversed covering method and not have to slot the thin wood. Did you mean 1/2A size plane?

It is quite practical to use the thn variety of CA hinge on on 1/8th stock but it is not practical to do the slotting with a slot machine. I have done it many times by using a #11 blade by hand.

The old doped on hinges that EC mentioned above are not really practical if one wants to pre cover the surface with modern covering films. However there is one old method that does works well after covering and looks kinda neat and easy to do. They are called sewn hinges and you litteraly sew the hinge on.

If you are interested when I get back from the field this morning I will try to find some photos and descried the simple stitch. This even works well as an emergency hinges when you have a broken hinge at an event.

There are the iron on and sewn hinges that were a commercial product that worked great but you would probably not be able to find those anymore . The down side of those are you can,t really use them and precover with plastic covering materials.

John

Thanks guys. John I have scene the sewn hinges before. Thats is a good alternative choice but I think I will go with the thin CA hinge. I agree about using the hinge slotting tool. That is why I asked. It would be very hard to keep the thing inline while trying to cut the slot. I did not think of of the #11 blade. That would work fine.

Thanks
Chad<br type="_moz" />

Chad I know you are going to go the thin CA hinges and that would also be my first choice but possibly for some others this might clear up the technique. It actually works very well at an event to make an emergency hinge repair and all it takes is bit of SpiderWire fishing line and a safety pin thrown in the flight box. The straight pin is used to make the holes and a bit of ca is applied to the the Spider Wire to stiffen it so no needle is needed.

This is my old Ringmaster Jr I revived two years ago for the International Ringmaster fly day thingie. Around the world there were 1525 flights were made by the various models of Ringmasters The stab and elevator is less than 1/8ths stock and you can see the old rotten doped on cloth hinges.

John

John, that looks like a good idea. I will put the Rambo sewing kit in my survival box. Ill have to brush up on my sewing technique. This will give me another good reason to be in JoAnne Fabrics other then looking for balsa wood or rulers and such. Haha. I feel so out of place in there. haha

John,

Boy does that Ringmaster bring back memories. I still have a Flight Streak around somewhere.


Steve

I started attaching my control surfaces on my small electrics with the covering I'm going to use, just a strip along the top and bottom then just cover over that. It works very well and so far nothing has come loose. Iron on covering has made things a lot easier over the years.

This is what I use for my hinges anymore.
http://aerobroach.com/

Hey I like those blades' just might be the cats meow, Hm anyone still say that? gotta get me some

John

I like mine. Beats my slot machine. Plus a lot faster.