By: Bill Vargas Here's a simple way to have Fiberglass Hinges for your
Balsa V tail.
Starting with a finished sand, uncut balsa V tail, Trace out the elevators and
a center line on the balsa. Next, lay the elevator over some 1.5 fiberglass cloth and trace it out,,, cutout
cloth for both sides leaving about 1/2 " of overlap all the way around the elevator.
Using some .004 or .006 thick Clear mylar, lay the cloth on the plastic and
wet it out with your favorite Epoxy resin., I like using
West Systems epoxy using the 206 hardner. Now lay the elevator on top of one
of the wetted out pieces of cloth. Click
on image for larger view
Next then lay the other wetted out piece of cloth over
the top side and fold the mylar over Click
on image for larger view
Now squeeeegy out all them air bubbles and excess epoxy,,,
Once you are satisfied all them little air bubble are gone,
lay your finished work on a FLAT Surface and WALK AWAY!
Next day. Now that the epoxy has cured, simply peel away the mylar. Click
on image for larger view
Trim edges to your likings and do a slight finish sand. Click
on image for larger view
Now go back to those elevator lines and score thru one side until you reach
the bottom side of the top layer of fiberglass.
Normally a 1/8" groove is what you should end up with. Next, cut the edges
of the elevator with a razor saw. Then cut the
center line and bevel sand the edges and epoxy the 2 halfs together at 110 degrees
with some more glass in the center.
Here's the bottom side of the V tail already epoxied together with Grooves cut
out and Linkage setup pre-positioned for a trial fit.
Click on image for larger view
Here's the linkages already epoxied in the V Tail and ready for installation
onto the fuselage. Click
on image for larger view
Here's a look at the top side of the V tail. I am pushing
on the ball links to show some surface deflection.
Click on image for larger view
Now, epoxy the completed V tail to the fuselage. Be sure to trial fit a few
times to acheive the proper incidence before setting in the V tail.
Click
on image for larger view
Here's the V tail with the bubble in the center. Be sure the table is level
and the wings are level, using the Robart incidence meter. Once the
bubble is level and the tail is straight, tack it with some CA. Now go back
under and epoxy it to the fuselage with some glass. Click
on image for larger view
After all that, I normally clear coat The V tail with some polyurathane rattle
can paint and rub it out when dry for that really HIGH gloss look
It sounds like extra work and it is,,, but the benifits of Fiberglass Hinging
will be Tremendous in the turns and other aspects during flight.
Click
on image for larger view
