Elevators.

[BoustropheDon]

Quite a few of the designs have only a thin strip of foam connecting the two sides of the elevator. One crash and it snaps in the middle and it is not an easy repair. I have had this happen both on the Storch and the Mini Speedster.

Take my advice; make the clearance hole on the tailfin bigger and leave more foam connecting the two sides of the elevator.

 

[TEAJR66]

At 22:49 in this video, Josh shows how to reinforce a hinge joint with hot glue. The same technique that he uses for the aileron here can be used on any control surface. https://www.flitetest.com/articles/ft-simple-storch-build

I also like to put a piece of tape on the top side of the hinge line before I make my bevel cuts.

Between the tape and hot glue reinforcement, the hinge should last for the life of the plane.

 

[kilroy07]

Do you have access to a 3D printer? (If not, PM me and maybe Santa will help you out.)
After seeing seeing this design https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2556143 for the simple soarer

I did ones for the Storch;
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3298243

Cub;
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3021449

And Mustang.
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2989736

I will upload them here as resources shortly.

 

[Merv]

I have eliminated the thin foam strip form my elevators & replaced with a torque rod. I make my torque rod form marking flag wire. Make a V with the wire, but leave an inch or so flat in the middle of the V, something like this \_/. The wires should extend into each half of the elevator 2-3 inches or so. You'll need to place the wire so it will not interfere with the control horn.

On the planes I fly hard (all of them), I have also started to make my vertical & horizontal stabilizers with 2 layers of FB & double torque rods. This vastly increases the strength, and will allow you to straighten your FB if it is a bit warped.

 

[kdobson83]

I personally have a 3d printer and can say these braces look promising. But for those who don't have a 3d printer, this is what I did to strengthen that area.
Grab a BBQ skewer, choose your desired legnth, cut it, mark on your foam where you want to reinforce, cut a a line with your knife the same legnth of the BBQ skewer, and then use the BBQ skewer and drag it's blunt end through the cut to make the channel big enough for the skewer. A tight fit is ok. Fill channel with a bead of glue and then insert the BBQ skewer. And lastly, run a bead of hot glue over the top of the skewer and smooth out with some scrap foam. Will make the foam nice and rigid.
I've done this with almost all of my vertical and horizontal stabilizers including my FT Explorer. On the explorer it kept me from having to add the ugly support skewers on the outside of the tail. Worked like a charm on my 125% Spitfire too.
Here's a pic of my horizontal stabilizer on my 125% FT Spitfire. Paint doesn't hide it completely but it adds a lot of strength.

 

[Bricks]

In the build video for the Storch and many others you glue a popsicle on the bottom side to connect and strengthen the center section.

 

[TEAJR66]

Wood coffee stirs do well.

 

[Hai-Lee]

One cheap and nasty way to reinforce or replace the linking piece of FB on the elevators is to use a BBQ skewer.

I just bend it until it fractures either side of the straight centre section I require. Then I trim the ends of the skewer so that the outer pieces from the fractures are equal in length.

With the skewer held in place I draw where I require the channels to be cut in the FB, Remove the foam, and fit the fractured skewer. After fitting I fill the channel with glue, (normally epoxy but any glue that will hold is OK. When the glue is set of dry the elevator will be stronger than the original by a great margin!

Just what works for me!

Have fun!