Surface alignment?
 

I would post this in a different section but thought the info gathered would be good for beginners.
I have a used low winger I want to fly. It is a Hobbico Brightstar. Problem is the airplane was heavily damaged in shipping, I didn't complain much because I got a good deal and I used the engine and electronics in my trainer.
When I say damaged I mean 4 shattered ribs in the wing, several holes in the fuselage, elevator detached and worst of all the entire tail was busted off. OK?
I repaired most of the damage and in fact I could probably have it ready to fly by Monday but I noticed a problem.
The horizontal stab and elevator assembly is not quite strait. It is flat and level but if I measure from the aft tip to the nose on each side it is off, Vertical stab and rudder are good.
How will this effect flight?
It is off by 1/2".

RE: Surface alignment?
 

For the most part you probably won't even notice it.

It may make it corkscrew through loops, but that's about it

RE: Surface alignment?
 

Flying tip on the Brightstar, I had one and it was an interesting plane. It was actually quite fast in level flight but would lose a lot of speed if you pulled a hard turn. The plane is very forgiving. If things start to get carried away, don't be afraid to throttle down so you can catch your breath. The plane won't fall out of the sky. On setting the rates, the maunual gives 2 settings. Use the "Low" rate setting only! The high rate will make the plane snap very fast and basic control is very touchy! If left to glide in like a trainer it will land very hot!! To slow it down; turn to final and then start to add in elevator and watch the speed. When it slows down to a reasonable landing speed, hold the up elevator until just before touchdown and then add some more to get the nose up a bit more and hold it there until the plane is on the ground and stopped. This will give you a nice slow, nose up touch down. This isn't how most low wing planes land, but most low wing planes don't have a flat bottom wing either! [8D]

RE: Surface alignment?
 

Thanks Guys, I didn't intsall the tail feathers myself and from the looks of the airplane it was flown some but probably not alot.
I don't have a manual for it so I have no idea what the throws should be. I will search around but I don't hold much hope of finding anything.
I will set the throws around what most basic trainers that size use and high rates at about 50% above that and see what happens.
I think I will ask my instructor to buddy box on at least my first flight with it, until I get a feel for it.
Again thanks for the advice.

RE: Surface alignment?
 

Found a manual on the Hobbico site under discontinued models.
Aileron: Low rate 5/16" up, 5"16" down. High rate 7/16" up, 7/16" down
Elevator: Low rate 3/16" up, 3/16" down High rate 1/4" up, 1/4" down
Rudder: 7/8" right, 7/8" left
CG: 3 5/8" back from the leqading edge. Check this with the plane inverted.

As I mentioned earlier, low rates produce a crisp response, high rates produce a lightning fast response, controllable if you are experienced but after trying both i was plenty happy to stick with low rates. I never did try high elevator rate and thought the low rate worked well.
I have included the link to the manula below in case you want to look it over.
http://www.hobbico.com/manuals/hcaa2065-manual.pdf

Let us know how you like the plane.