I recently got back into RC Planes and bought a Avistar ARF for a Trainer. Per instructions I put Epoxy in the cut out for the Horizontal Stablizer. After letting the epoxy cure I remeasured from the middle of the firewall to the tip on the horizontal stablizer. I came to find out that I am off 1/2". If I measure the right side it measures 36 1/2" if I then measure the left it measures an even 37". For whatever reason during the curing the horizontal stab must have shifted. My question is how much will this effect flight performance?? I am so pissed at myself, I can't even assemble and ARF right. any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

On a trainer, like the Avistar, and at the airspeeds they fly at, the misalignment of the stabilizer will likely go unnoticed. As long as it's flat horizontally, you shouldn't have any problems flying the model.

To correct the problem, the best way to remove it is to use a thin-bladed saw and cut just above and below the stabilizer, cutting the glue and not the stab. Some sandpaper on a stick to clean up the slot, and then some balsa shimming to take up the space the saw left.

It's a pain, but can be done if you're careful.

Thanks for the reply. I wast sweating it for a bit . Appreciate the reassurance.

Yeah, I measure every 2 to 3 minutes during the first 20 minutes of cure, and every 5 to 6 minutes for the next half hour. There were a couple times thast I caught a slight shifting. The epoxy is farily slimy before the curing starts, so the surfaces can slip without being touched.

I would imagine it will fly okay. Might be a tiny bit of roll coupling with elevator input, but probably not noticeable.
Dennis-

I tend to use something to hold it when gluing a stab on with epoxy. Makes it so I don't have to re-measure and risk moving it. That is actually the one things a T pin is good for.

If it bugs you and you want to fix it, you can get it off. Use your monokote heat gun and heat the epoxy and it will come off. Don't force it though, you will break it.

As stated earlier, you won't notice it anyway. I wouldn't mess with it.

I tend to tack stabs etc with a couple of drops of thin CA while epoxy cures.. I aim to epoxy stuff up at the end of the night and am normally way too tired to keep going back every few mins to check on it :-)
Epoxy, align, tack with CA, clamp, check alignment, maybe a couple more drops of CA, go to bed :-)

Will definately keep your suggestions in mind for the next time. Thanks again.

I do the same as Flyboy, I put a T pin in front and back to keep it in the correct alignment.