These two modelers go into this Bar.

Just kidding.

I haven't fixed a twisted wing with open bays in 50 years. Pan, water, heat, a bit of steam and you're good to go. Right? Well hold on a minute.

My Flite Streak, an original kit BTW, had two warped parts. Nothing major, just the LE and TE.

No big deal, small arch, probably off a half inch. Hardly no-ticable if your tall.

Anyway, lazy as I am, I opted to not fix the part but to just assemble the wing an build it like it is. So, I had one bow facing up and the other facing down.

The wing was straight as an arrow except for this, if that makes since.

Six months later, I developed a bit of enthusiasm because of another Flite Streak build thread. I'm on it again building and liking it. Still cannot get those bowed LE and TE'ers out of my mind.

Now, back to that boiling pan of steam.

Only steam I could come up with was from the cook top.

Cabinets above in the kitchen so that won't work.

So now I find myself outside standing in front of the grill and wondering what kind of pan I can put in there to boil water for this steam job.

Boy it was hot yesterday in sunny Florida and that swimming pool sure looks really inviting.

So I said, "Why not!"

I went and got the wing and submerged the whole thing in the swimming pool. Yup, soaking wet it did get.

I jigged it up and let it dry overnight and "presto remco" what an improvement. Not 100% but still a considerable improvement.

So, I guess you never know where a hot day and a swimming pool will take you.

Charles

Charles, it probably would have been better to have left that wing in the jig for at least a few if not several days to be sure all the moisture was gone. Don't be surprised if it warps again.

I have found few kits that had the preshaped leading/trailing edges to be straight.  I would line them up to see if the bow was the same direction for both peices.   Some planes had dehidral and some had anhedral.   Never noticed the flying of the planes to be different than the ones that did have a straight LE/TE, which were few, very few.   Even covering with silk/nylon I would wind up with bows in the wings.   

charles,,i suppose it depends upon what you want,, if you want a reliable flying airframe,, I doubt this wing will get you there,, but then if you just want something to talk about,, and maybe some day go out and go around in circles,, then it wont matter much,,

for what its worth,, ammonia can cause structural issues within balsa,, as in making it brittle and failure prone.

That's just plane awesome. I would have gone through dozens of pieces of wood before I kept one from splitting. I have yet to build a built up fuse so all of you guys amaze me.

When I built my first Nobler kit many years ago, the bottom sheet was to be molded.  Did not know about amonia then.  Just put the sheet in a tub of water with some weights(canned vegatables) to soak over night.  The mold was an old baseball bat.  Wrapped the sheet of balsa around it and let it dry for several days.  No cracks and formed to the fuse with very little effort.   

Wynn, does that method lead to stress cracks over time?
LOL Charles I think I'll stick with a couple more profiles for now. I do have an engine in the box waiting for a Nobler.

Ammonia is not needed on balsa.  Ammonia will soften the lignin and subrin in wood; however, balsa has little or none of these compounds. The problem is to get it saturated with water.  Adding a little Simple Green to the water will make it soak a lot better. 

If I were dealing with a warped leading edge and trailing edge as mentioned here, I would split them lengthwise and reglue them in a jig.  That works pretty well.