Blacksheep-J

Fiberglass fuselages seems to be the standard these days for ARFs. I'm currently assembling one but the vertical stab is crooked. Its molded onto the fuse. Is there any way to straighten it?

firstplaceaviator

My Feedback: (27)

Yes, it can be straightened. Secure the nose of the fuselage to keep it from rotating.
Then use a lamp (halogen shop lamp from Kmart, Walmart, ect.) to heat the fuselage between the wing and tail.
Careful not to get it too close, it will burn the epoxy or polyester resin. As it softens, secure the fin at just past perfect alignment.
Allow the fuselage and lamp to set about a 1/2 hour. Turn off the lamp and allow the fuselage to cool.
When you remove the support, it should now be straight.
If not, do it again and tweek the fin a little more or less to get the right alignment.
Good Luck!
Doug

scratchonly

A heat gun will soften the fberglass but you must be VERY careful not to cause a wrinkle or other distortion. Do this at your one risk. Also if it is off set to the left at the front looking from the rear (right trim), ie not parallel to the fuse centerline this may be intentional to counteract torque. If this is the case leave it alone.
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Blacksheep-J

Thanks for the response guys. I'll carefully try the halogen lamp as I dont have a heat gun,only an iron.

BTW the stab is not 90deg to the fuse. It angles to the left at the top when viewed from the front of the fuse.