Hello,

I'm building a Mountain Models Lucky Ace Electric plane, and considering using iron-on covering to hinge the ailerons/rudder/elevator instead of using tape. The trailing edges are very thin and the manul recommends to use tape instead of slotting and traditional hinges.

I have used iron-on covering to cover the hinge gaps on other planes, but all those also had traditional slots and CA'd hinges.

Can anyone let me know any negatives or positives of using the iron-on hinging method ? And I assume it would be best to do top and bottom in this case ?

Plane specs:
(Wingspan: 40.0 in Length: 30 in Wing Area: 344 sq in Flying Weight: 15.5 to 17.0 oz Wing Loding: 6.5 to 7.1 oz/sq ft )

Thank you for any advice,
NJF

on the smaller planes i have seen it before with no ill effects but i wouldn't want to try it on above a 25 size plane. since you are talking about a 17 or so ounce plane i could see it working well for you.

I've used Monokote covering since the 70's for hinges on 3m sailplanes. Start with theBOTTOM of the wing addingthe flap/ailerion in 1 piece; then cover the top of the wing.I ama fan ofRobart hinges for everything else.

Thank you for the advice guys, it is greatly appreciated.

NJF

I've done it on a bunch of planes .25-.40 no problem. I usually make the hinge out of the same covering as the surrounding area and have it go a good .5" on either side of the joint and then just cover right up to the hinge and trim back. I even did one of my Quickie .25 racers this way. No issues.
I do mine from the bottom first too.

i only stated what i said on the bigger airplanes for two reasons i had never seen it done and I am an overkill builder, i tend to make it stronger than it needs to be. I am glad that there are others here who have done it I would have been curious to see how well it worked out.

I did the iron-on covering hinges on 2 planes. While I imagine it is acceptable on smaller electrics, I wouldn't use them again on a glow powered plane. On the one plane with them I flew, I lost the elevator on the second flight because of exhaust residue. I have not yet flown the second plane, bur before I do, I intend to seal the hinge edges with an application of thin CA. Or save myself some worry and just go with sewn figure-8 hinges. Much safer. Uses up my left-over Dacron 1/2A comtrol line material, never had any problem at least up to .40 sized planes. And the little control-line jobs fly MUCH better with .008" steel cable than with thread.

I have used Ultracote for hinges for many years and have never had a hinge failure or even any loosening of the hinges.

Thank you for all the advice. It has been extremely helpful.

NJF