U Got a ARF? And do not want to fear a control surface comming loose?
Seal the gap!!! Use tape or monocote on all or part of hinge aera .

<span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS">How to stop worrying about hinge failure?

realize you bought something that was probably made by some chinese kid. did you install the hinges? what type are they? how did you install them?

hinges on an ARF, if you installed them and did them correctly, should be the least of your worries. be sure to check all the glue joints in the fuselage that you can get to and add more glue if you see any gaps. make sure the firewall is securely EPOXIED to the fuselage, not just glued,seal the in and out of the firewall if using gas or nitro, and shake it a little after assembling it to get all the grimlins out. you can seal the hinge lines if you like, but contrary to popular belief, a slight gap isn't going to be detrimental to flight. i seal most of the gaps on my planes just to keep the edges of the covering from coming loose in flight after a while, but not for holding the feathers to the surface. i flex the feather down, put a strip of 'magic' scotch tape along the hinge line then flex the feather up and do the same to the bottom side. monkeykote would work too, but then you have to bust out the iron and trim the access away. the tape disappears after you put it on. there are techniques for 'pinning' hinges that will most certainly elliminate them from ever seperating. not a difficult task.

what's your experience level with building planes? i'm guessing pretty new with BARF's?</span>

ES,

Been flying a long time an never had a hinge pull lose. I don't buy ARFS, I build. PIN your hinges and they will not pull out. I see this question a lot "To pin or not to pin that is the question"

It only takes a few minutes to drill a small hole thru the hinge and put a tooth pick in and hit it with super glue. Ya it's a little work but don't be afaird it won't hurt, promise...Then sand the tooth picks flush and cover the tooth pick with your favorite covering.

Good luck with your ARF [:@]

Rick

Crash, I also think he is a beginner. If you worry about your hinges comming loose, you did not install them right to begin with.

And if hinges aren't installed right, a strip of covering isn't going to hold them for long. Of all the tasks we do on planes, hinges are the most cut and dried task to me. You cut a slot, fit the hinge, and put the glue to it. If it's anything besides a CA hinge, go ahead and pin it to be extra safe.

Just check them after every flight and don't worry about it until you see one with a problem.

Kurt

I've never had a cloth or sewn hinge pull loose. They might wear out and need replacement after 15 or 20 years though.

Hi ES,
Most kits that I've seen from China or region have really crappy hinges, clevices, horns etc. I've seen some that just crack/snap and break off. Therefore one can expect that thesemishaps will happen...... or could it be due to continental drift... see signature below.

Cheers


Bundu

Great comeback. I loved it LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just a tip . Works for me . thats all.

Arf hinges suseptible to failure? Let's face it guys those hinges are put in place by Little girls, with Little curls, that work from dawn to dusk. I tend to re-glue the inplace arf hinges with a few drops of CA. For the Arfs that supply you with CA hinges, I use purchased CA hinges. Until I followed the procedure above I never had a hinge failure. Sometimes the ARF hinges are not glued but inserted only. Apparently the boss man incharge of those little girls monitors how much glue they use per airplane. So, to cut corners the hinges are left hanging for glue.

Re-glue before the first flight and they should be good for the life of the airplane. Of course, if you are a heavy windex user after flights and tend to saturate everything we all know CA does not like water. You could shorten the life expectancy.

Sledge_78

I'm not sure that re-gluing CA hinges is a good idea. If there is any glue at all on them they are not going to absorb any additional glue. Excessive glue can make them brittle.

You make a valid point. However, I have not had a problem. I am able to get a CA bottle adapter from my local hobby shop. I place it on the yip of the bottle and it will meter out a drop at a time. Two drops one on each side has worked for me.

Sledge_78

 I had to redo all the precut hinger slots in an Arf the CA hinges would not slide in to save their own life. Boy was it a pain.

Hi!
Using thin Ca glue to fix ARF hinges works just fine!
Just pour on and you don't have to worry! I even spray accelerator on to have a faster fix!