Brodhead Pietenpol Association

Original Posted By: "Cuy, Michael D. (GRC-RXD0)[ASRC Aerospace Corporation]"
For all of you guys who have used piano hinges for your ailerons:I am installing my aileron hinges now. As many of you have (correctly) advised, because the top of the aileron spar is beveled, I made sure that I placed the attachment bolt/screw holes far enough down to give clearance on the back side of the spar for the nuts/nutplates. I put them at what I thought was the minimum distance down, only 3/8" from the top of the rear face of the spar. I placed the hinge so that the top of the hinge is flush with the top of the wing (i.e., the top of the rib capstrips. All of this being said, set up as I have it this ends up with the attachment screws a LONG way from the hinge point, something just over 1", and very near the edge of the hinge (I opted to buy 3" wide hinges (1.5" per side), wider than most on here, because I saw this as a potential problem). Does this bother anyone? I am wondering about the potential for the hinge to bend away from the aileron spar because of the distance between the hinge line and the line of screws. Of course, because the spar is angled, the screws are pretty much in shear anyway, so it may not be a problem.The solutions I see are (1) move the hinge down lower so that it is below the top of the wing. This could, I suppose, cause a clearance problem between the opposing capstrips. (2) I could use a wider hinge on the aileron half, which would give more edge distance between the bolt hole and the edge of the hinge. This would not do anything about keeping it from bending, if that is a real problem.So, how far down on the hinge are the screws for most of you guys? And, how low/high do most of you have your hinge mounted?Thanks,Gene________________________________________________________________________________

Original Posted By: owner-pietenpol-list-server(at)matronics.com
Gene,I don't think it's a problem. Mine are pretty far from the hinge line and Ihaven't had any problems with them. I don't have any very good pictures ofthat area, but here is a picture of the aileron being covered, and you cansee how far the screw holes for the hinges are from the edge:Jack PhillipsNX899JPRaleigh, NC _____

Original Posted By: "Jack Phillips"
Jack, is your TE metal? It looks pretty shiny, and I don't see any gussets atthe ribs... is that aluminum sheet? Maybe the light hit it just right to shine?Great to see all the aileron talk... I am also getting ready to cut and hinge mine.The hinges and hardware showed up yesterday.--------Mark - working on wingsRead this topic online here:http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.p ... __________

Original Posted By: owner-pietenpol-list-server(at)matronics.com
Yes, my trailing edges are aluminum, one of the changes from the plans Iwish I had not made.Problem is, I made my ribs with the trailing edge ending with a 1/4" flat,instead of coming to a point. When I installed the metal trailing edges, Inailed them to the ribs, but as the fabric shrank it slowly pulled thetrailing edges forward on the ribs, creating a neat little pucker at eachrib, on the top and bottom of the wing along the trailing edge. No way tofix it without recovering the wing. It took about a year after finishingthe airplane for this to show up.Build it to the plans - you'll be happier.Jack PhillipsNX899JPRaleigh, NC-----Original Message-----