I purchased a used plane from someone that has Robart hinge points. On one of the ailerons, one of the three hinge points is broken at the joint. I'm trying to figure out the best way to repair it. I'm thinking that since I can't really remove the existing hinges, I should just saw through the remaining hinges, take the aileron off and then reinstall 3 new hinges very close to the old ones. It's a trainer so appearance is not an issue. Any thoughts?

-Scott

I was faced with a shifted hinge line on a scale plane. I cut the hinges to separate the surfaces. I then chucked a brass tube into my drill that had the same inside diameter as the hinge point outside diameter. I sharpened the end of the brass and drilled out the hing as a plug. You have to be careful to follow the hinge, but it will remove it cleanly. You can then plug the hole with dowel or rounded balsa and reinstall new hinge points. You can go back to the same holes or drill new ones depending on the problem that put you down this road to start with. It works.

You have to be careful re-locating the hinges in some models (especially ARFS...) Sometimes there is a SMALL reinforcement in the wing where the hinge is located. If you move the hinge 1/4 inch to the side... you are out of the reinforced area and the hinge stresses can shatter the wealker portion of the wood.... or the thickness is insufficient to get a good bond with the hinge when you glue it in.

Other than that... on a trainer where appearance doesn't matter you can move the hinges.

If you move all the hinges to the right by 1 inch... then on the left end of the control surface you may need to add an extra hinge to have adequate support. You don't ever reduce the number of hinges used... but you do sometimes add one.

I'd cut out the one bad hinge from the bottom of the wing and aileron. Put in a new one with epoxy and a peice of balsa to fill in the piece you cut out.