Fifty three years ago (1968) I cut my first foam wing. I had read an article in Model Airplane News by Ed Izzo and Ray Olson that was titled “Styrofoam: A giant step forward” In fact, I read that article many, many times and studied the techniques that Ed and Ray outlined in great detail. I showed the article to my father, James A. Hunt - who was a noted machine designer - and he also liked the idea of a foam core wing and he told me that he could easily make a foam cutting transformer to allow me to try the idea.
While-dad was assembling making the transformer (the main one that I still use to this day!), I made a foam cutting bow and ordered some 1.5 Ohm/ft Nichcrome wire as suggested by the article.
We found a supplier for foam, but had no idea that there were various types of expanded polystyrene bead foam (EPS). We didn’t know that the foam we needed had to be virgin bead foam. The foam we found had some reground foam in it and because of that it had hard spots through which the heated wire had trouble passing without causing terrible lines and gouges in the surface of the cores. And that was just one of many lessons that we learned the hard way. Perseverance paid off, however, and I started producing really nice cores once we found a supplier of virgin bead foam.
Now, these were not the first foam wing cores made for control line airplanes; Mike and Arnie Stott had been producing foam core wings as early as 1965, but they made only solid core wings at that point with just a slot in the inboard panel to allow the leadouts to pass through The first ones I made did not have any internal coring either. But the article in Model Airplane News had shown internal coring for an RC Pattern wing core. Ed and Ray opted to cut through the surface of the core and then have the wire go around a coring template and exit again through the same hole in which they started the cut. Neither dad nor I liked that idea and we came up with a hole spurring device that allowed us to make clean holes in the foam blanks that would allow us to pull the Nichrome wire through the core, and then hook up to the bow and cut out a section without disturbing the surface of the foam. At first we did two-section coring, but Mike and Arnie had caught up with the technique and were doing the same with their cores. As far as I know, we were the first to implement three-section coring with no breaks in the surface, and hence produced the lightest cores to that point.
At that point I wasn’t in “the business” and made cores for myself and then soon for my friends, who quickly saw the advantages of the lighter foam cores. I made cores for several of Bill Simons’ planes and also for other local fliers.
It became apparent that I had a lot of “friends” wanting foam core wings, and so I made the decision to get into the business of commercial foam cutting. I began offering triple cored, covered foam wings in 1969, and have been in the business either full or part time ever since with only one small break in 1989 when we moved to a new home.
East Coast great, Gene Schaffer began using my wings in 1970 and produced many great flying ships, including his legendary Stunt Machine with wings made by my Control Line Specialties company. And throughout the storied 1970s the vast majority of foam core wings used in CL Stunt competition at the local and national level came from my shop. In fact wings that I have produced have won more national and world championship CL aerobatic titles than those made by all others combined! I’m very proud of that.
I changed the name of my company to Control Specialties because I was also selling a lot of foam wings to the RC Pattern and Scale community. In 1981 RC Pattern legend, Tony Bonetti won the top honors at the Nats in Sequin, Texas using one of my wings. That kicked the door open to a lot of RC business!
Along the way my father and I developed a lot of foam cutting techniques and foam construction features that virtually all subsequent cutters have copied and adopted. Among those features are foam core flaps that are cut integral with the wing and are then separated after sheeting, the landing gear plate system that is both lighter and stronger than the normal maple block system, the Lite-Ply ribs that accept the landing gear plates, and molded leading edge caps that fit onto a core that has been cut with fully rounded nose, making for a much more accurate and light product.
In 1990 I started development of a technique I called the Lost-Foam Wing Building System Actually it was a misnomer, and I now regret not naming it the “Foam Form” Wing Building System, because that more accurately describes what it really is. I liked the inherent and easy to achieve accuracy that a properly cut and covered foam wing virtually assured. I began thinking about a wing building system that would take advantage of the accuracy of the foam cradle pieces, which are just as accurate negative airfoil shapes as the foam cores are positive airfoil shapes. I devised a system in which the foam wing blanks are marked for desired rib positions for a built-up wing, prior to being cut into a wing shape. Once the core was cut, the rib positions could be marked accurately onto it and labeled, and they could also be marked and labeled in the lower cradle section. The core could then be cut up into extremely accurate rib stations to be used as templates for generating equally accurate balsa ribs. An absolutely perfect built-up representation of the original foam core shape could then be assembled in the lower cradle half, which was now a form-fitting building fixture.
The very first wing built in the system was absolutely accurate in every respect. That wing was built for my Tucker Special, which went on to win the Vintage Stunt Championships. Its wing was light, strong and true!
Since that time, I have been constantly developing and improving his Lost-Foam Wing Building System. Its success is evident by the large number of top C/L aerobatic champions who have chosen Lost-Foam as their preferred wing building method. These champions include Bill Werwage (who used the Lost-Foam method to build the wing for his 2004 World Champion P-47 Thunderbolt), David Fitzgerald, Bob Gieseke, Frank McMillan and Bill Rich. Dozens of other successful C/L Stunt competitors also used and recommended the Lost-Foam system.
Of all the techniques and innovations that I have been involved with in my life, the Lost-Foam method of building a wing is the one of which I am most proud. It is also the one of which my father was most proud…
I also cut wind tunnel test wings for McDonnell-Douglas and Lockheed along the way, race car wings, and even special props for man-powered airplanes that made an assault on the Kremer Prize for being the first such airplane to cross the English Channel. Along with that were also hundreds of very custom wings for very specialized applications in our hobby to add to the thousands of wings made for more “normal” hobby applications . It has been an adventure…
And now it is time for that adventure to come to an end. After 53 years of serving the CL Stunt community with my wings I have decided to retire. This was a very difficult decision for me, but it comes at a time when I’d like to spend more time building and flying my own Stunt models and also spend a lot more time with my family - including our Golden Retriever, Casey, who is my steadfast and beloved pal.
I want to thank my wife, Marianne, here for the steadfast support she has given me over the years in my endeavors in flying and in business. She has put up with a lot and I love her dearly. I could not have done any of this without her. She has been a gracious host to the seemingly hundreds of modelers who have visited our homes over the years. She has a lot of patience...
Above all I want to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Without Him I am nothing.
Contributing to my decision is the fact that quality materials for making light, strong and accurate wings are becoming increasingly difficult to find. I will not compromise the quality of my products by using sub-standard materials.
I have decided that June 20th will be the last day for the doors of Robin’s View Productions to be open, coinciding with the Nats this year. I will continue taking orders up to the point where I have enough good materials to make quality wings. And those will be on a first come, first served basis.
Additionally I will cease production and sales of my line of DVD programs, my Hardnose Motor Mounts, my selection of plans, and my Lost-Foam Wing Building fixtures.
Please go to the Robin’s View Productions site in Vendor’s Corner here on Stunt Hangar for details on what products are available up to the closing date and on pricing; there are some close-out specials…
My most heartfelt thanks go out to all my loyal customers and friends for the many years of joy that producing products for our community has afforded me. This has been the most rewarding part of my life.
Bob Hunt
Topic: All good things... (Read 4093 times)