Smoking Wing Tip Attachment Hinges
 

I need to decide soon whether to attach my wing tips with traditional screws or hinges. I was told today that the hinges wear with age and get loose / start smoking. Has anyone had this experience on their tips mounted with hinges?

Thanks
Ellis. RV7a Tip-up.

No issues here with the hinge attach method, but then I don't fly that much any more. I have two different sets of wing tips and use the hinge method to rapidly change from one set to the other. I have never had any "smoking" issues, not with the rivets and not with the hinge segments.

If you are concerned, what about all the RV's that attach the cowling segments with hinges and pins?

Sounds implausible to me.
10+y on my wingtip hinges. No problem.
It?s an awesome mod. Only downside is marginal weight gain and probably a days work.

You can always bond them with Proseal + rivets to avoid the issue but probably not necessary.

+1 for this. I have 700 hours in 10 years on my wingtip hinges and they look as good as they did day one. Would make this mod again in a heartbeat.

Just finished mine on my RV-14
 

They came out great - really not a lot more effort than the screws i did on my 9.

Mike's guidance was very helpful . . .

Is there a good resource to find out how to install the hinges properly?

Search
 

Do a search . . . bullojm1 did a nice write up.

Here's the link to Mike's great write-up:

http://rvplane.com/pdf/WingtipHinges.pdf

I just installed my wingtips using the hinge method. I found it difficult to tape the tips in place until I placed a few inflated balloons in the tips which expanded the tips so they fit the wing snuggly. I also ripped a V groove in a 2' long 2X4 and set it over the trailing edge to keep it aligned while fitting and drilling. It made the process pretty easy.