Contest Balsa

[ericrule]

As we are all aware good quality contest balsa is getting harder and harder to find. For the past 5 months we have been unable to acquire enough contest balsa. Over this period it has become nearly impossible to get any 4" wide stock. When you consider that at RSM Distribution we deal with two of the largest balsa suppliers in the USA and have done a large volume of business with them for over 28 years and even we can not get a decent amount of 4" contest balsa it is painfully obvious that this is a problem that is not going to be resolved anytime soon. The lumber companies in Ecuador have cut back their forests so far away from the water source that what trees they can harvest have little or no light wood in them. In addition to this they are now harvesting younger trees which means they can only get narrower boards from them.

I have spent considerable time this year searching the world for new sources of balsa wood. It is with great joy that I can today inform you that I have been successful in finding a lumber company that is able to send me 15,000 sheets of superior level 4" wide contest balsa. Every sheet is not heavier than 5 pound/ft3 density and is guaranteed to be properly kiln dried with no soft, no hard spots and no warps! Within 10 days a container will be loaded aboard ship and on it's way to me in California. Once it arrives here and clears US Customs RSM ?Distribution will have a reasonable supply of contest balsa for it's kits.

Since 15,000 sheets of contest grade balsa is more than we will use for our kits I intend to offer the excess stock to other kit manufacturers and to individuals who want to purchase a reasonably high volume for their own use. Since the cost of this balsa order must include the wood itself, freight, inspection fees and customs charges I can not establish the final cost until the wood actually arrives at my place (eta is middle of June). I can assure you the price will compete with or be lower than the current wholesale prices we pay now.

[Mike Griffin]

Thank you Eric.  We knew this was coming.  Over the last 15 years,  you have done a wonderful job of cutting dozens of the kits I have released out of pristine contest balsa and I look forward to buying some of this incoming stock for my personal use. 

Mike

[Will Hinton]

Wow, I just attended an all star baseball game at a local school last evening, and as I left the parking lot there were two semi's there that delivered two blades of a wind turbine and were still loaded.  Those blades were 250 feet long, and HUGE.  The round hub ends looked like I could stand up in the opening and i'm 6'1"!  If those cores were balsa, the question is not how many trees were in there, but how many forests!  I was totally astonished.

[JoeJust]

Will, we had hundreds of these monsters go through our small town. I once wrote a report about them with pictures in the old CLW magazine, but I don't remember which one. The size of each blade is beyond belief!
Joe

[Will Hinton]

That's for sure, Joe, and then to think of some of the huge wind farms I see across the country - wow.

[M Spencer]

Police report a series of 'missing ' wind mill blades across Idaho .

A large white van with three grey beared men has been seen in these areas .
they are believed to use a chainsaw and absailing methods .
Anyone with any information is asked to report to officer dibble at . . . . .



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Maybe someone needs to find what they do with these things , when the come off .