Don't know if this is the right forum, but I am trying to figure out what is the best to remove the rudder and elevator surfaces from my plane without tearing it all up. I want to replace the two surfaces while I am converting the trike gear to tail-dragger. I have the new pieces built but I don't know how to get the hinges our of the vertical/horizontal stab.

Any suggestions?

Your best bet is to cut the hinges with a small saw and leave the old pieces in the surfaces, then relocate the new hinges to a location next to the old hinges.

If you do not have enough room in the surfaces to leave the old and install new hinges, then you can use a #11 blade to carefully dig the old hinge out of the surface.

HTH,
John

I recovered a 4*40, GP Dazzler, and Sig Wonder and I cut the hinges on everyone. I use CA hinges. If you don't want to cut, you can cut out the width of the hinges on your new covering. This will allow you to get new covering in the gap. I used this technique on my Wonder elevator. It works and looks fine.