Help needed with Hanger 9 Extra 260 35%

[parkerkemp]

I recently recieved in the mail from the brown truck a huge box with my extra 260. Upon first inspection the box everything seemed ok, besides the fact that both ends of the box had been compressed and looked something like an accordian. I opened the box and began drooling over my new airplane for all of about two seconds before the drooling turned to tears. The moment I took off the styrofoam covering the tail of the fuslage I noticed the entire tail had been crushed! The tail could be moved in any direction and wood pieces were ratteling around. I called the hobby shop and told them what had happened. I inspected the wings and they were in perfect condition! I immediantly grabbed both boxes and went into the hobby shop where I had ordered the plane. I called them on the way and told them what happened.

They told me they had called and were getting sent a new airplane. I dropped off both boxes and left. About a week or so later I got a call telling me my airplane was once again here! I went down to the hobby shop and inspected the airplane it was perfect. No damage what so ever. So I left the hobby shop with my new airplane and went home to begine my build. I put the landing gear on and wheel pants then moved onto the rudder.

WHAT THE #@&$ are you kidding me?!?! Now I realize there are NO hinges on the tail only on the actual rudder. I begin looking at the parts thinking I must be doing/reading something wrong! I mean how in the world can I slide a piano wire through the rudder and have it attach itself to the airplane? Seeing the slots in the airplane I realize that there should be piano wire hinges in the tail too like I first thought. So the first thing I do is call the hobby shop who begin to tell me that they will get in some new hinges from Hanger 9. I then call Hanger 9/Horrizon Hobby and tell them about my problem. He does a quick look on his computer and tells me that since I didn't order the airplane directly through them that they can't and won't help. The customer service agent should be FIRED! Ok, now I'm really pissed! The guy on the phone didn't want to tell me anything! I mean why should he be worried about his product? By now I'm realizing that I really don't want to spend the extra time putting glue in the hinges, attempting to make them align, and doing my best to correct their mistake. I really just want a NEW airplane with the hinges installed the way they are supposed to be!

Someone please help, Mike McConville if you get this maybe you can shed some light on the situation! Any advice would greatly be appreciated! Is it worth it to get a whole new plane, or should I just install the piano wire hinges on the airplane myself? I've never done it before, and I've already installed the landing gear. Would it be harder to remove the four bolts or attempt to put on the hinges myself?

[hpapilot]

Installing the hinges really shouldn't take you more than 15 minutes. If all else is okay with the plane, I'd say do the hinges yourself and get 'er flying. It really isn't worth making the hobby shop ship it back to Horizon just for some rudder hinges.

[Wayne]

	Quote: Originally Posted by hpapilot
	Installing the hinges really shouldn't take you more than 15 minutes. If all else is okay with the plane, I'd say do the hinges yourself and get 'er flying. It really isn't worth making the hobby shop ship it back to Horizon just for some rudder hinges.

I gotta agee.
Sure it sucks that it wasnt done as you expected but really, this is an easy fix.

[parkerkemp]

That's great news! I would prefer to do the hinges than take the wheels off and wait another week or so for a new plane! I'm a little nervous because I've never done hinges other than CA hinges before, but I'm sure I can. How would you guys all recommend doing the installation? Thanks again for your inputs! Who even sells piano wire hinges? I can't seem to find them online?
Thanks AGAIN!

-Parker

[Wayne]

If I am not mistaken, they are just regular flat, dubro hinges with the pin removed.
Once the pin is removed you use the half that would match the other half in the rudder.
Once they are glued in, you just run the piano wire up from the bottom and into both sides of the hinge.

Simple.

[Major_Smackdown]

If you can't find the same hinges (and I couldn't at my LHS), I'd give Horizon a call once again - they will take care of you - I've bought many airplanes from my LHS and was well taken care of by horizon - with no exception. I recently bought a plane that had a twisted tail fin (the H9 35% extra), I built it and flew it and then realized - this sucker is way out of whack. I called horizon and a new fuse was on the way in no time. They didn't hesitate to take care of me. (ask for andrew).

I just went through hinging the same plane - if you don't find the exact hinges I'd wait till you got them. it would be a nightmare drilling out the hinges that are already installed on the rudder if you needed a larger wire to connect them - wait for the right ones and save yourself some grief. (the hinges I used were sig brand and used a significantly larger wire than the H9 hinges).

Installation: (pre-fit stuff before getting out any epoxy of course - and of course make sure your hinges are all assembled before gluing the rudder on)
I used some blue painters tape and taped off the tail end of the fuse leaving open just the slots for the hinges.

I didn't bother masking off the rudder (as I had already epoxied the hinges into the rudder before attaching to the fuse)... but I did smear some vaseline onto the joint of each hinge (careful not to get it onto the flat part).. and I smeared vaseline onto the rudder adjacent to each hinge joint.

I used a very small wire to work 30 min epoxy into each hinge slot in the fuse making sure the slots were well treated with epoxy, then I use an acid brush (those little brushes on tin handles - made for applying acid to solder joints) - I used one of those to paint both sides of each hinge's flat part. - don't use very much - just make sure the whole surface is coated. once each one is coated insert the whole works into the fuse while carefully wiping away any excess epoxy after you've finished the insertion - the wiping goes easy now since you have masked the back of the fuse off - you can just wipe the excess epoxy onto the tape for later removal.

I then taped the rudder to the fuse for drying (curing - whatever you want to call it) of the epoxy. I put some pieces of folded up foam over the trailing edge of the rudder and compressed it under the tape as to hold some tension. for a little extra hold I ran some surgical tubing through the stab tube hole and tied it off so as it would need to be stretched over the rudder - this gave a nice grip on the rudder to hold it tight to the fuse for the epoxy to dry.

after it's cured overnight - I waited about 20 hours - it was a super easy clean up by peeling off the painters tape - any other excess expoxy wouldn't stick due to the vaseline so it was easy to clean off.

I dread dealing with epoxy and hinges myself - so I thought Id share my technique with you - I'm sure there are a lot of ways to skin this cat. Good luck.

[Extra-300L]

The airplane was missing 5 hinges? I would sue them for $5 million dollars. Oh, and an Extra $10 so I can pay someone to install them.

[Flybye Steve]

Your story is very interesting and also very familiar. I purchased the 260 from Cheif Hobby. It came out of their Florida operation. To my surprise, there was no fuel tank in the fuse, the cowl was damaged and yes, no hinges in the vertical fin. I called Horizon and they promply sent me a new cowl, and a Dubro fuel tank. They did not have nor could they aquire the hinges missing from the fuse.. The Dubro hinges are not the same.
In the prosess, I found out that the reason there were no hinges in the fin and no fuel tank. This was a "replacement" fuse. Meaning this is the fuse you would receive if you purchased just the fuse..
I called Cheif to complane and the owner was very unsimpathetic. Yes he had replaced the fuse. in the box due to the original being damaged in shipment. He didn't see any problem at all with my having to rehinge the rudder (I used Robard hinge points) assemble and install the fuel tank and go through all of the trouble of aquiring replacement parts.
I was told that he didn't understand why I was ticked off. In addition, this was one of the first batch 260's which meant that I was also required to do the "glue revision" on the wings. I paid the full price for a "Quick Build ARF" which turned out to be anything but a quick build.
This is really ashame because I have a long history of satisfaction with Horizon Hobby products. The dealer should have clearly let me know that I was not getting everything as advertised and should have offered a discount for the work not provided on the fuse. To make matters even worse, the dealers attitude about the promblem was infuriating.

[Major_Smackdown]

that's about why I ended up doing the hinges on mine... I had the crooked fuse, they sent a replacement fuse and rudder (horizon did) - it was crooked too and the there were no hinges installed but they were included. I made a mistake and sent it all back to them as they were going to get me another replacement fuse and rudder. They did send another and it was straight but no hinges were included. I didn't bother calling them regarding the missing hinges as I was able to find them at my LHS. That LHS is nearly an hour drive, and my airplane was fully built - then I had to rebuild it - and that's only part of the story. Mine, too, wasn't a quick build but I figured what the heck - I couldn't have built a kit nearly as quickly.

[parkerkemp]

I am happy to say that Horizon hobby have taken care of this little problem. I told them that they should include hinges with the fuse esspecially in my situatuion where I already have hinges installed in the rudder just not in the fuse. I think they said that they would start keeping some on hand, since that isn't an item you can get ahold of anywhere because its a modified hinge similiar to the dubro hinges but thicker, and with wider spacing. They have taken great care of me and I will be able to finish my airplane really soon I'm hoping. Hanger 9 has always had great customer service with me, but in this sutuation they really wen't above and beyond, atleast there at the end.

[MikeC3D]

I have had similar problems with Chief Aircraft in the past also...But I didnt allow them to shrug me off. I will never buy another plane from them again. I have, do, and will buy other hardware/electronics if they are the only ones in stock, but its rare. Bu in your case, hinging the rudder(or any control surface ) is very easy to do. We use Gorilla glue and Acetone for keeping clean during expansion. We have NEVER had a hinge pull out, Ive broken hinges and the flat part stays in.