1972 Thunder Bird

I have a Velco Thunder Bird kit that my father started in 1972,and it's been in the basement all this time. It is almost finished just needs to be sanded and coverd.Is it worth reglueing with CA or should I not bother ?. Thank you for in put.

The big question is, what glue did he use? I was given a couple of planes that were glued with Ambroid, that were old, and where the glue had begun to separate. (But I didn't know that by looking at the outside.) One separated in mid-air as the belcrank came loose and pulled through each rib. Check to make sure the glue joints that you can see are strong. some glues should last a life time (yours or the plane's, whichever comes first). Some glues dry out and pull away from the wood, and the older they get the worse they get. If he has a glue fillet, the CA may not even penetrate.

Leonard Neumann

I've restored many models, including three T-Birds. Len is right to be cautious. However, I have yet to experience an in-air structural failure of any sort that could be blamed on the glue (which usually, if not always, was indeed Ambroid). Maybe I'm lucky...

I'd look for egregious separations, glue delaminations, etc, and fix them with whatever "glue" floats your boat, or is appropriate for the joint in question, CA or otherwise.

But then I'd go ahead and sand, and recover. And fly.

Just out of curiosity, is your Bird an Upright engine version, or is it the T-Bird II, with the inverted setup?