Just FYI

[Mike Griffin]

In case anyone is interested, I ordered balsa today from the wholesaler I do business with and contest balsa was up 20%.

Mike

[qaz049]

In case anyone is interested, I ordered balsa today from the wholesaler I do business with and contest balsa was up 20%.

Mike

I went to Bunnings today and the price of Balsa was exactly the same as it was last week or last year for that matter :-)

[Perry Rose]

It's time to experiment with other stuff. I'm thinking cardboard, like cereal boxes, for ribs and formers. Or foam board.1/64 ply sheeted foam has already proved successful.

[Dwayne]

It's time to experiment with other stuff. I'm thinking cardboard, like cereal boxes, for ribs and formers. Or foam board.1/64 ply sheeted foam has already proved successful.

Necessity is the mother of invention, it will be interesting to see where this goes. I'm going to experiment with dollar store foam on a electric Twister, I figure the fuse could be  about 90% foam with some ply in the nose, the wing I'm not sure yet, foam ribs with wood spars,  what about le and te?

[Mike Griffin]

Perry and Dwayne,

Eric Rule at RSM and I have had some conversations about designing some models using alternative materials.  This does not mean that balsa will be totally eliminated in the model but a more efficient use will be utilized.  I will probably do a test build on a design that Eric is drawing in the very near future.  According to what my buying contact told me, it is contest balsa at the present time that is getting scarce and is going up in cost.  On the order I placed on Friday, the contest grade was up 20% and there may be more increases coming.

Mike

[john e. holliday]

There is a gentleman that has been using corrugated paper(some call it card board) for years.  The AMA plan service has them listed.   I have a design that I think would work with gentleman's procedure on using corrugated paper.  Just need to locate the paper source.

[Perry Rose]

One of the first ARF manufacturers of r/c planes used card board to sheet the foam wings. Casburn used 1/64 ply on his foam winged pattern planes. The LFX for one.

[FLOYD CARTER]

Some years back, I built an R/C pattern model with a .60 engine from Monsanto "Fome-Cor" sheets, with a few ply pieces in critical areas.  It was successful, but suffered from fuel soaking in the front end, and repairs were next to impossible.

Balsa is still the best building material.  Given the time and effort building a stunter, I want the maximum service life.