Foam Wing Construction[2]
Now you have 2 sheeted halves, sand the leading ,tip and root edges flush with the foam. Sand the trailing
edge flush so neither sheet overlaps the other. Eyeball the trailing edge for straightness, at this point you can
massage it up and down a bit in spots that are not in line. Now you get out your plans, pictures,and 3 views and
draw on the sheeting your ailerons and flaps[ top and bottom. I use a 4ft. sheetrock T square for this. Now draw
on your servo hatch cutouts, I put them about 2 inches ahead of the the flap and ail. line and about 4 inches out
from the root of the flap and ail.. Make sure your servo boxes are square with the aileron and flap lines,and
make them about 2.5 x 2.75 inches. Cut out the ail. and flap servo hatches with an exacto and pop out the balsa
sheeting with a flat blade screwdriver.
There are several ways to remove foam, the best way is with some sort of hot wire. You can make up
some different cutters from a coat hanger that will plug into your soldering gun or just hold them with a pair
of vice grips and heat them with a propane torch. I use a 2 x2 inch square more than anything. It will take some
practice,so go a little at a time, and dont heat the wire too much. Remove a square of foam from the servo
cutouts about 1.5 inches deep and use the balsa edges as guides. Now use a 3ft peice of 5/32 music wire to
make the wire channels. Start by drawing a straight line on the sheeting from the servo cutouts to the root. I
want one long hole to go from the root foam edge to BOTH servo openings,so plan it out! I want the servo
wires to come out at the root as close to the top sheeting and as far toward the front of the wing as possible.
Heat the end of the music wire and bore the hole. Repeat this on the other half. If you are using 3/8 leading
and trailing edge material then draw a line 3/8in in front of and behind the ail. and flap lines. This will be your
CUT lines. Use your metal straight edge to cut the ail. and flap forward cut lines with a NEW x-acto . Cut a
little deeper with each stroke till you run out of blade. Also seperate the flap and ail. with a cut. Now flip the
wing over and do the same on the other side. Now you have the aileron and flap separated. Make your second
cut now along the aft line you drew to remove 3/4in from the front of the ail. and flap. Sand the trailing edge
of the wing and the leading edge of the ail. and flap with a T bar and 80 paper. Cut out the leading and trailing
edge material and glur the 3/8 balsa on with Pica Glu-it. Use T pins and masking tape wrapped around the
whole wing to secure till the glue dries.
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