Wing folding mechanism durability

[aferguson]

I haven't 'played' very much with any of my planes with folding wings, opting to leave them either folded or open. However, i'm contemplating something which will require regular opening and folding of the wings.

For those that have used them: how durable are the wing folding mechanisms on the 21st Avenger and the bbi Hellcat and Corsair?

[mikeg]

when you open and avenger box, the note taped to the base says in big letters- READ BEFORE FOLDING WINGS or something to that effect- once you do that, you probably won't have a problem at all- I haven't with any of my three. No problems at all with the BBi corsair, my first hellcat wings were fine, but don't try and raise/lower the gear with the wings out, it's easier to pull the wings completely off the plane instead of risking snapping a gear. You could shave a little bit of plastic off the wing to body bar-spar-square support-insertion- whatever so the gear will not require such force to move it. I think its easier just to take the wings off- but your probably not likely to raise and lower the wheels several times a day anyway. Once you get the easy hang of the avenger action, you wil do it without any apprehension at all- that mechanism seems quite durable

[Teamski]

I think the hinges on all three are pretty robust. Definately in contrast to the eggshells on the 21st Corsair!

-Ski

[aferguson]

good to hear.......thanks guys.

[tmanthegreat]

They are robust, but QC on them varies. Quite frankly, they were my least favorite part of the plane because of this. That is not to say that the mechanism itself is capable of breaking easily - it is pretty tough - just it could have been slightly improved to better hold up the wings.

For example, some of the earliest "Atlantic" Avengers (without screw covers) had good wing hinges where the parts were assembled tightly and the wings did not sag. Later Atlantic planes (with screw covers) seemed to have looser hinges that caused a lot of wing sag. The "Flight 19" and "Bunker Hill" planes were more hit-and-miss with some planes having sagging wings and some not. My later-model Atlantic Avenger has badly sagging wings; my Flight 19 plane has OK wings with a slight bit of sag; my Bunker Hill Avenger got it right with wings that are flat.

[flayrah]

It's a good design, but poor materials. I had the idea to customize another aircraft by adding folding wings - I'd use a set of Avenger hinges, cut down the other wings, pop the hinges in there and what could go wrong? LOL Generally a disaster, project was too big for my time and skill level. But once I had the Avenger wings disassembled, I could see there were two cracks forming on one of the hinges, not where any pressure would be applied but just in the plastic itself.

So the hinges are probably fine for the occasional fold for re-positioning, but I'd be careful of putting them into too much action.

[NWarty]

Tman,
You're right about the Atlanic Avenger. I have a non-screwhole Atlantic and my wings haven't sagged at all. Then again, I've never folded them up

I've been pretty hesitant to fold the wings on my Bbi Corsair and Hellcat, fearing that I might break something in the process

[Pa Deuce]

i'm contemplating something which will require regular opening and folding of the wings.

please don't be offended, but I have to know

[tmanthegreat]

The BBI Corsair hinges are actually pretty durable and not prone to breakage anywhere near as easily as the 21c Corsair. The hardest part is actually pulling the wing out so you can fold it as the wing inserts into the extended position rather tightly. The advantage, though, is that it holds its dihedral perfectly.

The BBI Hellcat has good wings as well. The folding mechanism is similar to that on the 21c Avenger, but less accurate and more robust in construction. The BBI wing design does not look quite right when the wings are folded, but when extended, they actually have a little dihedral to them and are sturdy.

Again, my biggest complaint with the 21c Avenger is the wing folding mechanism. It is a good example of where 21c tried to go with accuracy over durability and wound up with avoidable QC issues...

[aferguson]

pa.....i gather you want to know what it is i am contemplating?

Well, i'm going to turn my hallway floor into an escort carrier's flight deck...at least part of one. It's 13 feet long and about 3 1/2 feet wide. Not big enough to simulate a whole deck space but it can simulate a decent chunk of it.

I'm going to build an escort carrier bridge, which is significantly smaller than the islands/bridges of the bigger fleet carriers. I'll offset the bridge to one side of the floor and then i plan to line up a bunch of aircraft on the floor. Right now i don't have much, one avenger and two corsairs on the way. Over time i hope to add more. But i can set them up all with wings folded or open the wings and have them taxiing, i am going to put some hooks in the ceiling above so i can have a plane taking off from one end of the floor or a plane landing at the other end, so i'll be able to set up a variety of scenarios. When done i can just store the planes and bridge away until next time.

In time i hope to be able to find and add figures for the bridge and the deck crew, equipment like little tractors etc. Unfortunately there is no hole in the floor so i can't simulate an elevator....lol.

As a result of my plan i will be opening and folding wings a fair bit so i wanted to be sure they were durable enough to take it before i went whole hog on the idea.