Hi Guys,
I`m really worried. I just finished building my Sig Kouger and when I bolted the main wing on when I looked at the front of the plane I noticed that the elevator is perfectly parallel to the main wing. It is not off a great deal , but maybe a few degrees. I took great care when gluing the stab to the fuse and was sure that the elevator was straight. But anyway, what should I do now? How will this effect the performance of a fast plane like the Kouger? I really do not want to cut the stab off, but if you guys think it is nessasary I will.
thanks,
Frank

It's gonna loop funny. It may also be hard to trim. If it's out of parallel more than 1-2 degrees, cut the stab off and realign.

Dr.1

Your misalignment is probably no big deal. I've flown a few models with that problem, and unless you're talking precision aerobatics it's most likely no problem at all. A minor imperfection, let's call it. If it were really bad, what you'd notice is a tendency to roll one way or another when you apply elevator.

I would fly it first, and see if it's a real problem. If you don't like the way it flies, then you can probably shim the wing on one side to bring it into alignment with the stab. Doing this will probably introduce a bit of misalignment in incidence between left & right wings, but some precision aerobats have a deliberate differential incidence between the two wing halves, so don't let that prevent you from flying it.

Also, your plane does not have to fly at full throttle all the time anyway. Full throttle should be reserved for climbing and vertical maneuvers; otherwise, ease it back to about 1/2-2/3 for straight & level. (And back off to idle when you're on a down-line.) Whatever misalignment your plane shows in flight will be at its worst at full throttle, so throttling back will reduce any ill effects and improve your flying pleasure otherwise as well.

Next time you build or assemble an ARF, first thing is to get the wing square to the fuselage and perpendicular to the vertical stab. Then get the horizontal stab square to the fuselage and parallel with the wing. Not to worry, go fly and enjoy.

Full throttle should be used whenever he wants to use it. Pylon racers run wide open 100%. Many sport guys like to go fast, and the Kouger is built for speed. Using less throttle to compensate for a surface misalignment doesn't work. Fix the problem, not the symptoms.

Dr.1

Guys,
Thanks for your comments. I really feel much better now because I just sport fly and do simple areobatics. I`ll be testing this plane next week, I`ll let you know how it flys.
thanks,
Frank

Next time you are the field, look at all the models there. You will see a lot of them that have the same problem you have. Most guys dont even know it.
If it is not way off, & you are not flying precision aerobatics or competition, you may never notice either.

You might be able to work on the high side wing saddle to bring it in parallel with the horizontal stab/elevator. If it's more then a few degree's off you'll notice it when ever you do a loop or pull the airplane into a vertical maneuver. Especially when at full speed. But majortom-RCU is right, this is not critical but noticable. If you feel the need it's not too difficult to cut through the joint and attempt to re-align. When building from a kit and starting to put the big pieces on I will always mount my wing and horizontal stab to check to see how things align before glue things perminant like. Having this practice has saved my butt a time or two. A little shim stock and 5 minute epoxy works wonders

Cheers,