Hi John

The experts can correct me, but my understanding is the built-up wing can generate more lift before stalling. Of course this would also depend on the airfoil shape. If the models weight the same the built up model should have a better turn rate then the flat wing.

Regards
Robert

I guess I was thinking in terms if a 1/8" plank wing rather than a solid airfoil shaped wing. I am a beginner so I have no desire for speed or turn on a dime agility. It did occur to me that a built up wing would have more drag and therefor be a little bit slower in the air. I suppose I was wondering if the extra building time for the built-up wing is worth the time at this stage in my development.

John

I've had plank wings, solid wings shaped into airfoils, and built up airfoil wings built with spars and ribs and covered and doped.  I never had them on otherwise equal airplanes so I won't pretend to answer the question as stated.  The wing built up with ribs and covered was by far the most maneuverable.  I did not notice much difference between the 1/8" thick plank with a rounded leading edge and tapered trailing edge, and the 1/4" thick solid balsa shaped and sanded into an airfoil.  The 1/4" thick airfoil had only a three inch chord vs the 1/8" planks 4" chord so wing area is also a factor.  With both of these wings angle of attack seemed to be an important factor.  The plane with the thinner wing has a built in positive angle of attack so level flight when upright appears level but level flight inverted is obviously nose high.  My Golden Hawk pretty much straight out of the box except for some "stylistic sanding" and some whittling inside the fuselodge to help reduce weight has a solid wing and flies decently on 45' lines with a strong .049.  It does loops, 8s, wing overs and such.  On 35' lines it was tough for me to keep up with it though many combat flyers may have been yawning at that speed.  Nothing wrong with a well designed thin plank wing for learning level flight and basic maneuvers.  If you're into scratch building look at the white lightening threads on this forum. If you want a kit, Blackhawk, Brodak, and Sig all make some good 1/2 planes.  Virginia Hobby Sport carries all three brands and the folks there are great to deal with.  Just got another package from them this week.

I have been competing in various Musciano Meets (MI and VA) for almost a decade now, and have either scratch built, built from a kit, or restored about two dozen Scientific designs by Walt. As you probably know,  these 1/2As  must have solid wings to be eligible (also, hollow log fuselages). Over the years, I have found that these little models fly quite well. The typical span is only 18", with the largest 24". Also, most of the later '60s models have only a 1/8" "section", although some of the '50s ones go about 7/32nds, and you try to sand some semblance of an airfoil into all of them. The key is lightness. The builder needs to sweat every gram out of the model, which means contest balsa, and a compulsive approach to hollowing the fuse. Also balance, and a steady engine run, usually a Black Widow, which is about the most powerful Cox allowed here. I have seen bipe and high wing designs do well, along with the more conventional types.

They can do much of the Pattern (although not asked to, per contest rules), and maybe there are a few skilled pilots who can horse these things into something semi-recognizable as the Pattern, although I am not one of them.

That said, the built up wing still will be superior in pure stuntability. You can fly them at a slower speed, and they provide more lift. You can observe this in the Unlimited part of the Musciano, where any of Walt's models can be flown (can even be scaled up or down), and there also are plenty of 1/2A models to choose from.   Currell