Chris - Painted yes, new most definitely no. I inherited it from Noel Corney who wasn't using it any more and very kindly donated it to me when I said I wanted to get back into F2B.
So this morning I took all of you Gents advice on-board and adapted it to my available resources. In the absence of another pair of hands, I figured a way to hold it in place twisted while being heated, see att pic. I ironed only the bottom inner half figuring heat would expand the wood, and kept it clamped for a few minutes until it cooled. Voila!! One eyeball precision straight flap
Took maybe half an hour including pack up
And it's still straight tonight so I'm hoping it'll stick...
In the process I noticed the other flap is bowed up slightly in the middle so that's tonight's project. No wonder the poor thing was a terror to fly! She must have been wetting her pants as much as I was...
Thanks again for your help.
Cheers,
Frank