Yup, the balsa issue, problem, dilemma, dare I say Pandemic is real, and it isn't going to be solved for quite a while. Even if the wind prop makers stop using balsa it will be a long time before the supply is replenished. That's not the real problem long term for balsa...
The reality is that we as a group are shrinking (I know, Captain Obvious stuff...). There are not enough young people coming along who have the love of the hobby/sport to replace those of us who are aging out. Model airplanes, for several reasons, are just not something on which the next generations will focus. Sure, modeling will still be around for years to come, but with an ever diminishing audience. We never did account for a huge marketplace for balsa, but in the future we will be even less of a marketplace for that amazing substance.
We can wring our hands and lament constantly about the ever-closer demise of the hobby/sport, or we can vow to enjoy what is left of it for our lifetimes. I am choosing to do the latter.
I posted a thread a while back on Stunt Hangar entitled "Balsa: Changing the paradigm." (Here's the link to that piece:https://stunthanger.com/smf/open-forum/balsa-changing-the-paradigm/) Basically I wrote about the fact that we all grew up using certain thicknesses of balsa for specific parts of our models, and that we could change that paradigm by using thinner, denser balsa and achieve even stronger and lighter - or at least as light - models as we achieved with the traditional sizes.
I also have posted threads here that explain what I call the "Lost-Sheeting" method of making sport and test-bed models. In that method a foam core is covered with .2 ounce/square yard carbon mat that is applied using water thinned Titebond II glue. I used that method in a thread about a small electric twin model that I am building. That thread is on the All Amped Up section of the forum (here's the link:https://stunthanger.com/smf/gettin-all-amp'ed-up!/new-small-electric-twin-question/).
I have to get to work, but I have a lot more to say about this subject. I'm sure there will be comments about what I have posted here, and I will respond to them as I get the time. In the meantime, I'm attaching here a few photos of models built using the Lost-Sheeting method.
Later - Bob Hunt