Torn CA Hinge
 

To day I was cleaning up my airplane, and I realized that one of the 4 CA hinges holding the elevator to the stab was torn in half. So how do I go about fixing it?, will I have to rip off the rest of the stab, or is there another way? Also, are those CA hinges generally reliable or should I start using a different style hinge? I'm surprised that this happened because this is my LT-40 that only has about 40 flights on it, and I cant think of a time when the elevator has been under alot of stress.

Thank you, and any input or advice would be greatly appreciated.

LT-40

RE: Torn CA Hinge
 

Well There Is No Wron Answer.I Would See If You Can Just Cut A Slot Next To The Hinge And Install A New Hinge.On The Other Hand It May Be Quicker And With Less Chanch Of Gluing It Up Wrong If You Cut And Replace.
A CA Hinge Is Fine If It Is Installed Correctly.It Is A Small Book On How To It.
I Do not Use Them In Bigger Ships ( There Are CA Hinges For Big Ship).I Like Pined Hinges Because They Are Stronger And Use Less Force To Move.

RE: Torn CA Hinge
 

well you can roll the dice and hope the other 3 stay intact... not the best option;)

You can cut off the elevator and relocate 4 new CA or what ever type hinges in different spots... hinges are a one shot deal and need "clean" wood to work best.

You could make covering hinges...also called gap sealing. Cut two about 1 1/2 wide inch strips of covering long enough to go across the entire width of the elevator(the hinge line). Undo the elevator control horn connection...clean the existing covering VERY well with alcohol... lay your strip of covering across the hinge line over lapping about half the width of your strip(3/4 inch) onto the Horizontal stab... deflect your elevator FULL down...take your iron(you do have one?) and tack the strip in place being careful to not stick it to elevator... once tacked run your iron over it to stick it down good...still being careful not to attach it to the elevator. once it's tacked MAKE SURE the elevator is deflected FULL down... work the covering onto the elevator by rolling it down with your iron... once it's locked down check for travel on the elevator... it should move just as far with the covering as it did without. now that the top is done and sealed down do the bottom the same way... on a 40 size plane the covering alone can be used as the hinges... you still have 3 out of 4 CA hinges holding it also;)

It's possible you used to much CA to glue in your hinges causing them to become brittle and break... CA hinges can fail from to much glue just as easy as not enough... more often than not it to much though.

RE: Torn CA Hinge
 

LT-40..... The best bet is to cut the rest of those hinges out, and reslot on either side of
the old hinges.. You could cut out the old hinges but then the slots would most likely be
to big for CA hinges, but the pinned hinges would fit..... CA hinges works good, as long
as they are installed with a slight gap, and enough but not too much CA... It's not that
bad of a job.... Good luck..

RE: Torn CA Hinge
 

Here's the easiest way...

Cut 6 strips of covering about 3/8" to 1/2" wide and about an inch long.

Overlap two of them by about 1/4" (adhesive side facing each other) and seal them together - do this with all of the strips to make 3 sets.

Now weave them through the gap and iron them down as shown in the diagram - Voila!

RE: Torn CA Hinge
 

Thanks guys, this is just what I need, I think I will go with the overlap covering method.