40% Carden Edge Stabs/ Elevator

[shogunmst]

Ok, I was out flying the other day and snagged my elevator half at the end of the runway causing part of my elevator to break off and ripped part of the servo bay out of the stab and some rear fuselage damage too. I can repair the fuselage damage over night but I'm not sure about the elevator and stab. Would those parts be repairable or should they be remade, if they need to be remade could someone tell me how to make them? I'm open to any and all suggestions.

Thanks
Shawn in FL.

[Unbalanced]

Repairing foam is never a good idea. Call Carden and order new cores for the stabs and start over.

[k5mog]

There is no problem in repairing foam cores. I have repaired several. You can use polyurethane glue to repair the foam. Test fit your broken pieces for a good tight fit, especially the sheeting must butt tightly together. Take an acid brush and paint one side of the foam and sheeting edges. Apply a little moisture to the unglued side and press tightly together.Tape or use some type of fixture to hold everything together tightly until the glue quits foaming. After this has dried repair any missing or bad seams in the sheeting, sand smooth and recover. The stabs will be stronger than new as the glue will expand into the foam bonding everything together. You have spent pennys in glue and scrap balsa, beats the heck out of purchasing new cores and sheeting.
Good luck Ralph

[The STIG]

!.

[shogunmst]

I'll start the repairs this week and will post my results soon. Thanks for the advice all. K5mog, I will definately attemp a repair of the stab with Gorilla glue.
Thanks

[MattyMatt]

	Quote: Originally Posted by k5mog
	There is no problem in repairing foam cores. I have repaired several. You can use polyurethane glue to repair the foam. Test fit your broken pieces for a good tight fit, especially the sheeting must butt tightly together. Take an acid brush and paint one side of the foam and sheeting edges. Apply a little moisture to the unglued side and press tightly together.Tape or use some type of fixture to hold everything together tightly until the glue quits foaming. After this has dried repair any missing or bad seams in the sheeting, sand smooth and recover. The stabs will be stronger than new as the glue will expand into the foam bonding everything together. You have spent pennys in glue and scrap balsa, beats the heck out of purchasing new cores and sheeting. Good luck Ralph

The strength is in the sheeting so, make sure that the sheeting is in good shape. Spray the foam cores with a mist of water.

[shogunmst]

I will be removing the broken sheeting and laying new sheets. I think that after looking at it again last night this will be a fairly easy but tedious fix. I will post pics of it when I start fixing her up. I was very luck to land the plane in 1 piece because the aileron was stuck all the way up so it wanted to roll relly bad, had to pin oposite aileron... WOW!! It was exciting though, PUCKER factor was in effect. LOL!!! Thanks guys
Shawn

[k5mog]

Shawn
There is no need to replace the broken sheets unless there is a gap in the break, a tight glue joint will be every bit as strong. I've done all kinds of repair. thanks to my friends, including sanding all the broken sheeting off and replacing it with new. I only repalce sheeting where there are gaps in the broken sheeting or chunks of missing foam. After all is said and done you need to do what makes you feel confident in the repair.
Ralph

[shogunmst]

Hey k5mog, the fix came out awsome, I fixed the fuse and the stabs were easier than expected, I removed the bad foam, replaced it with new foam, gurilla glued it all then re-sheeted, it came out awsome, looks brand new. Thanks for all the advice. I'll post pics tonight.

Shawn
USAF