Model Forum / Radio Controlled / Air Models / December 2009

Thanks Marty.  I really should have Googled...

One of the posts talks about using canopy glue -- I'm going to try that.  
Foam-safe CA seems to be doing well where I'm gluing wood or carbon fiber
to the foam.  But I recall the CA not wanting to set in the presence of
the foam alone; even with accelerator it would set around the edges and
take forever to cure in the middle.  It'll be _very_ interesting to see
how the canopy glue does.

They also mention some UHU Por -- I'll have to see if the local craft
store has some, as it sounds ideal for some foam-to-plywood joints that
are going to be problematic any other way.

This is going to be one fun plane -- it's actually #2 in a series.  The
first was a 1:10.5 scale to get the wingspan at exactly 24 inches.  I
learned a lot: about building with foam (don't use it for interplane
struts!); Laird Solution aerodynamics (the rudder is too small -- my
prototype flew sideways, and later I ran across a transcript of a talk by
Jimmy Doolittle where he complains about marginal yaw stability in the
full scale Super Solution); planning (you really do need to decide how
you're going to attach the landing gear _before_ you build (I knew this,
but had reasons for ignoring it)); and finally about painting foam (use
Krylon H20, and paint the dark parts white before you paint them
yellow).  

This one ought to be vastly improved by the lessons learned from the
prototype -- and even though it was ugly as sin once it really flew, it
flew really well.  So I'm expecting a good-looking, nice-flying, fast
airplane that'll rise off ground for this revision.

That's good to know -- I'm not a great fan of CA for a variety of
reasons, and I often don't mind waiting for glue to dry.