All,

I did a poor job with the CA hinges on my LT-40, mostly because I used thick CA to wick them in. (Don't worry, the guys at the field fixed them up and its been flying for several months).

However, this winter, I'd like to redo the hinges. Any suggestions on how to remove the control surfaces without ripping them to pieces. I could just cut the CA hinges in half, but then is there a way to "clean out" the slots and start over? Or should I put in new slots?

GB

Cut the old hinges out and then cut new slots.


You might want to try pinned hinges I personally like them better Great planes makes some nice ones.

I hinge slotting tool makes the job neater and safer.

Make sure before you glue your new hinges in place that you have little or no gap between control surface and control *(i.e. vert stab and rudder)

It might be more trouble than it's worth, but if you really want to replace them, do as crashum suggested. the one thing I want to add is this: DO NOT replace them with CA hinges! CA hinges work great, and I love them, but once you remove them, the balsa in the stab/elevator is already sealed with the old CA. Thin CA needs a porous material (like balsa) to set properly.

Cut off the old hinges, move over to a new area and install new hinges. Whether CA or pinned.

If you are using CA type hinges, before you insert them for assembly and glueing, mark the centerline with a ballpoint pen, and take a crayon or wax pencil and coat the center area with wax, BOTH sides. This keeps the CA (or epoxy) from hardening the center area. Works much better. This also works on pinned hinges. Saturated the hinge with wax or petroleum jelly (warmed with warm water and dip the pin in the jelly.)

I had a couple of the CA hinges break on my LT 40. I cut them out and replaced them with Robart hinges.