P-40 broken elevator; how I fix it

latole Thu Jul 28, 2022 8:20 am

I received this P40 poorly packaged with a broken elevator. Here is how I fixed it.

1- I drilled a hole in the center of the rod joining the two halves
2- A piece of tissue pin was inserted with glue and the two halves were glued together with Testors plastic glue

3- I put in a vise for 4 days before putting everything back together.
You can see the joint.

Gluing the two halves together without using a pin would not have been strong enough. I think the plane could fly safely.

As received !

P-40 broken elevator; how I fix it Dsc00210

Tissus pins and hole in the center of the elevator rod

P-40 broken elevator; how I fix it Dsc00211

P-40 broken elevator; how I fix it Dsc00212

latole Thu Jul 28, 2022 8:21 am

More pictures

You can see the glue joint and the tissus pin I used, red ball:

P-40 broken elevator; how I fix it Dsc00213

P-40 broken elevator; how I fix it Dsc00214

rsv1cox Thu Jul 28, 2022 3:28 pm

Good for you. Nice job. Centering and drilling that tiny hole is no easy matter. Yes, that pin will add strength and Testor's cement does the rest. I would have no issue flying it.