Champ repairs

[ShrimpRex]

Photos coming later probably.

First, a little intro so you know what's going on:
I taught my friend all he knows about flying with my little champ. He then bought one and got into flying that way. Over the years his plane has gotten in worse and worse condition and it has come to a point where it doesn't look like a champ anymore and the flight characteristics are less than mediocre (terrible). one wing has folded and is hastily fixed with duct tape and skewers and the rudder is basically useless. I wish to fix that but I need some tips.

TL;DR: The champ is not in good condition and I want to fix it up a bit.

OK, I want to fix the plane for him. The thing is that I want the fix to hold a long time and with the amount of flips and stuff he does when landing, a foam rudder won't cut it. I want to make him a new balsa rudder, but how should I go about doing that and will it even work weight wise? I have built my fair share of airplanes over the years but never with balsa. How should i fix his plane?

 

[Hai-Lee]

Firstly you should be aware that the parts for the champ are still available. I have rebuilt mine to hand onto my youngest son or my grandson who ever shows an interest first.

Before deciding to return my champ to "As New", I found that Balsa was a little heavy for use as a tail member but I did find that the thin foam trays used in supermarkets for meat and fruit trays were almost perfect.

The thin tray foam given a coat of Minwax and a light coat of paint, (to colour match) gave almost the exact same weight as the original part.

To use Balsa I needed to cut lightening holes and then find a lightweight method of covering the holes.

Just what worked for me!

Have fun!