Good news for us balsa lovers from Podcast #9! Both Chad and Josh B responded very favorably to a question about the possibility of an FT balsa kit! Also, the tone of the discussion led me to feel like some different build styles are to come.
FT Balsa Kit a possibility!
- Thread starter earthsciteach
- Start date
I got that impression listening to the podcast as well. At the very least they've looked into it as they know about the difficulties in quality/sourcing/cutting a natural product compared to foam.
If they are going the same route as they did with the foam series (starting easy and progressing into more difficult designs) they may want to kick things off with a version of the "Stick" design. The fuselage would be dead simple to build, the wing could be made with or without dihedral, ailerons, or landing gear, the tail surfaces could be built-up or simple sheet cut to size.
Choices like that could make the design "upgradable" for the builder - start with a wing without dihedral and no ailerons and later build a flat wing with ailerons.
Or take the wing and use it on another fuselage design. That modular style is pretty rare in balsa kits. Mountain Models has multiple wing styles for a few of their kits, but I don't know of any other company off the top of my head which does that.
If they are going the same route as they did with the foam series (starting easy and progressing into more difficult designs) they may want to kick things off with a version of the "Stick" design. The fuselage would be dead simple to build, the wing could be made with or without dihedral, ailerons, or landing gear, the tail surfaces could be built-up or simple sheet cut to size.
Choices like that could make the design "upgradable" for the builder - start with a wing without dihedral and no ailerons and later build a flat wing with ailerons.
Or take the wing and use it on another fuselage design. That modular style is pretty rare in balsa kits. Mountain Models has multiple wing styles for a few of their kits, but I don't know of any other company off the top of my head which does that.
roversgonemad
Member
A Stick style plane would be great!! And .40 glow size!!!! There's nothing better than the sounds and smells of a glow engine ripping through the sky!!!
roversgonemad
Member
Foam is fun, but I think balsa flies better! I have far more foam than Balsa, but I really like my balsa planes. I like foam for its durability and ease of repair, but it's ugly and I just don't think it flies as well. I find that my foam planes show the hangar rash much more than the balsa. I will always have some foam planes, but it's hard to beat a nice kit built balsa plane!
roversgonemad
Member
Balsa repairs are not bad at all. My old Avistar is a fine example. But it's one of those things where I can't just bust out the medium CA at the field and glue a fuselage back together, you need covering and an iron, etc. I think a balsa repair ends up better in the long run. If it weren't for the patches in the covering, you'd be hard pressed to point out the repaired areas on my Avistar. My foam planes have ugly scars where they have been glued. With the exception of my HZ Super Cub which is covered in Econokote, most of my foam repairs are pretty ugly. From 5 feet away, you can't tell where my Avistar has been repaired, but it's very evident on my foam planes like my T-28.
EDIT: I am slowly getting better at covering. I have found that Econokote is much easier to work with than Monokote. I used Towerkote on my Avistar and it was easy too, but I don't think it quite has the same fuel resistance as the Econokote.
EDIT: I am slowly getting better at covering. I have found that Econokote is much easier to work with than Monokote. I used Towerkote on my Avistar and it was easy too, but I don't think it quite has the same fuel resistance as the Econokote.
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I used tower kote because it was cheap. It works pretty well but everyone I know that's got a lot of experience says to use hangar 9 ultrakote. They say that it has a larger difference between the stick temperature and the shrink temperature so it's easier to work with.
I personally like the lighter coatings like SoLite, mainly because they are easier to work around compound curves for me.
For repairs I certainly like the balsa planes better. My old Hobby Zone Super Cub has been broken in half multiple times and fixed each time, but it looks like it has been through a war. By comparison, my Mountain Models Switchback took a nose-dive into the ground which did major fuselage damage. I removed the covering, repaired/replaced the balsa as needed, and re-applied the covering. The only way you can tell it was damaged is that I don't have the stickers to replace the ones previously on it, and if you look closely enough you can see where the new covering overlaps the old stuff. Since that last picture was taken the black on the nose and over the wing has been re-applied.
For repairs I certainly like the balsa planes better. My old Hobby Zone Super Cub has been broken in half multiple times and fixed each time, but it looks like it has been through a war. By comparison, my Mountain Models Switchback took a nose-dive into the ground which did major fuselage damage. I removed the covering, repaired/replaced the balsa as needed, and re-applied the covering. The only way you can tell it was damaged is that I don't have the stickers to replace the ones previously on it, and if you look closely enough you can see where the new covering overlaps the old stuff. Since that last picture was taken the black on the nose and over the wing has been re-applied.
I don't have much experience working with covering, but I do like the Hangar 9 Ultracote. I still struggle with those compound curves, though. I would love to see an episode on covering!
Foam Addict
Squirrel member
I'm game for the STIK!
Mine had a Tenerife disaster due to a confused newbie so I need a new one. If flitetest cuts it, I will buy it.
Mine had a Tenerife disaster due to a confused newbie so I need a new one. If flitetest cuts it, I will buy it.
Did you mean to say start with a wing WITH dihedral and no ailerons? I'm pretty sure that if you have no ailerons you'll need a decent amount of dihedral for stability.
A stick would be the way to go! It would be nice to see them offer several sizes of sticks up to something like this (which is on my list as soon as it's back in stock). Heck, if the FT crew doesn't do this, I think I'll buy a laser cutter and do this for you guys!!!
http://bridiairplanes.com/hangar/bridistick.html
http://bridiairplanes.com/hangar/bridistick.html
You are correct, thanks for catching that. Start with dihedral and upgrade to a flat wing later on.
The covering from Hobby King is pretty cheap at around $10 per roll. That's about $5 less per roll than typical Ultracote type covering, and the rolls are much larger as well. I've tried a few of their colors and find it pretty good stuff (although I still prefer the lightweight covering when possible).
Here's an episode on covering, no need to reinvent the wheel....just use a heat gun for the curves instead of the iron.
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