Twisted tail on foam corvalis
 

The back is twisted a lot as far as I'm concerned , but I don't know if it will be a big problem. I wouldn't know how to fix if I had to anyways. I just put this together and see that it is much worse than any of my other planes. I do have the skyfly max that the vertical fin is not even close to 90 degrees and it flies just fine (the elevator is level)

Here's a pic so you can see just how bad it is? How would I fix this anyways? How will it act in the air if I leave it? I'm guessing the whole rear is twisted 3 degrees or so and the wings seems level with the fuse.


BEFORE AND AFTER PICS

RE: Twisted tail on foam corvalis
 

If it were me, I would send it back.

RE: Twisted tail on foam corvalis
 

Ahh, it's too late. It was a used deal "as is" and I didn't even see it until I had it together. I wish I'd seen it sooner so I could've fixed it.

RE: Twisted tail on foam corvalis
 

Hold the tail section, where the stabalizer and rudder join the fuselage at the rear, over a pot of boiling water and let the steam heat that area up real good. Then twist the fuse to get the surfaces lined up and hold it there til it cools.

RE: Twisted tail on foam corvalis
 

Its not a fatal flaw - it will fly like that, but wouldn't track true through thing like loops and 8's and will probably have a slight bias favoring one turn direction.

RE: Twisted tail on foam corvalis
 

I had a glow ARF that I put together several years ago. When I put the horizontal stab on, glued it in place, then went to bed to let it set. During the night, it settled so that it was "tilted" to the left. I saw a paw print on the left side.. looked like the cat had walked on it as the epoxy was setting up and stayed that way once it was set.

It flew just fine.. as cutaway said, it tracked slightly irrregularly but it flew fine.

CGr.

RE: Twisted tail on foam corvalis
 

One less cat??

RE: Twisted tail on foam corvalis
 

After reading all of these good responses I was going to go ahead and fly it. This repair didn't sound too hard though so I tried it once without any results.

The second and third time I did it I was able to correct over half the problem. I think I was just not getting enough steam to it at first. Second time I allowed it to relax too much before a good cool. The third time did really nice. It not only had to twist , but had to be "steered" a bit too. It was a natural bend in that the more I twisted it the more it steered into place nicely. I might even do it again to get it perfect. I had the best luck with a water boiling pot with a 1/2" spout.

Patience (heating and cooling) was key in getting it to work and after doing it , it really is easy. A jig would be nice I suppose.

Thanks , guys for the help. Now if I crash it I can't blame it on the plane, right? ;)

RE: Twisted tail on foam corvalis
 

No, one crooked tail.

RE: Twisted tail on foam corvalis
 

This turned out to be not so nice flying plane. It's probably not because of the twist necessarily. Here's how it trims out for staying level , but it continuously wants to roll to either/both sides. All The control surfaces aren't very strong and bend and warp easily. I seem to have a hard time with it because it is constant work (correcting) to make it fly. Flying inverted is pretty hard because it still wants to roll , but the worst thing I don't like is that when doing a roll the nose drops a bunch until inverted. Maybe a character of this rounded short fuse?

Yes, I'm complaining. [:'(] I will continue to fly it though and perhaps I will grow to like it soon. [:o]

This is one that I'd take to the field and have someone else take it up and look it over. ;) The flaps seem pretty level , but the ailerons are off quite a lot. Worst plane I have I think. Maybe I will check the lateral balance because I've never balanced any of mine before.