mnrcaerobat

My Feedback: (197)

My horizontal stab broke on a quick landing due to an empty tank. Does anyone have any good ideas to fix this. I want to get good strength back. The break is very close to center. Here are some options I was thinking:

1. Drill each side, and install some CF rods and epoxy it all up real good. It will be hard to drill squarely on each side.
2. Slot and install some ca hinges on each half.
3. Glue it back together and add some flying wires.

Do you have any other ideas?

exeter_acres

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what kind of plane and what materials are we talking about? foam? balsa? sheet metal? Kryptonite?

mnrcaerobat

My Feedback: (197)

It is an Extra 330 (120 size). The stab is 3/8" thick balsa. I was also thinking maybe I could get some new balsa and rebuild it. Are the hinges easy to re-slot??

mnrcaerobat

My Feedback: (197)

here is a pic

exeter_acres

My Feedback: (2)

others will chime in...but I don't think it would ever be as strong as the original....

I would see if I could get a replacement (or build a replacement), cut the old one out and replace the whole stab

Ed_Moorman

My Feedback: (1)

I'd epoxy it back on and add front and rear bracing wires going from the fin, stab tip, fuselage bottom, stab tip and back to the fin. A lot of times when planes are new I use weed eater line for bracing. You might want adjustable wires in this case.

It'll be as good as new and stronger.

hattend

My Feedback: (20)

Looking at your picture, I would say replace the whole thing.

Use a heat gun to soften the epoxy and pull the whole thing out out of the fuselage (you'll probably melt the nearby covering so plan on recovering a portion)

Use the broken pieces as a template to rebuild the whole thing then reglue and recover.

The way it is now it will never be as strong as it was so why take a chance.

Don

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

No problem. Aside from the fact that 3/8" balsa is a good amount of wood to work with, you also have an ample amount that will be getting glued directly inside the Fuse.

Here's what I would do...

Put the stab in place, and mark the stab and the fuse in two places.

Now remove the stab, and drill a 3/16" hole at each mark in the stab, and a 1/4" hole (at each mark) in the fuse-side of the stab. Try to keep the holes straight, but they don't have to be perfect.

Noe put a 3/16" dowel in each of the 3/16" holes, and put the stab back to make sure that they line up with the other (1/4") holes. If they dont. enlarge the 1/4" holes until the stab fits back into place.

Once the stab fits, epoxy the dowels into the stab, and put a good amount of epoxy in the 1/4" holes. Smear some more epoxy on the rest of the bare wood and put the stab in place.

The dowels in the 1/4" side will have an epoxy "Jacket" around them to hold them firmly.

jetmech05

not a bad idea minnflyer however i dont think the 1/4 hole is a good idea try this instead drill the first holes just big enough for a round toothpick about an 1/8 in deep put the stab in place and use the tooth pick to mark where you need to drill the holes in the stab. remove the tooth picks now drill to 3/16th in both the fuse side and broken side. if i had the time i'd rebuild the whole stab
good luck

kdheath

By far the wisest move would be to replace it. I've seen what happens when a repaired stab folds. Ain't pretty.

Tall Paul

Replace the whole thing, AND add braces from the fuselage bottom to the stabilizer portion, attached about 50% of the semi-span.
If it broke once, it will break again, unless you add the bracing.

mnrcaerobat

My Feedback: (197)

Here is a picture of the repair that I made. It is still strong. Unfortunately, I crashed the plane. My rudder stick on my transmitter stuck in the upper left hand corner and I could not get control.

The repair was made with epoxy and some 3/8" balsa. I just epoxied the stab back together. I was able to put a piece of balsa on top of the stab also as you can see in the picture. I just poked some holes in the covering and glued on the triangle balsa on all four corners.

It came out as strong as original, and still is tough.

Anyone ever seen a transmitter stick lock up? No one at the field that day ever had.

hattend

My Feedback: (20)

Did the rudder return spring break? That's about the only reason the stick wouldn't return to center I can think of.

What Brand Transmitter?

Don

mnrcaerobat

My Feedback: (197)

No, nothing broke. I have been messing with it, and now it won't stick. It is a Futaba 6xas. Can I lube it with some dry teflon? Actually, that will probably attract more trash? I will probably try to brush it up with a soft toothbrush and blow it out.

hattend

My Feedback: (20)

If it's out of warranty, you can open up the back and see if something is hooking the stick. A piece of plastic flashing or something.

If you aren't comfortable doing that or if the radio is still in warranty, don't open the back...send it in for repair if cleaning it from the front doesn't help.

Don