kingspan board for making wings

shannonpowerlab

Hi,

I used to build RC planes some years ago and I am thinking of having a go again.

I have a stash of kingspan in my shed. I am thinking of making wings for RC plane with it.

Has anyone tryed it?

Is the material any good for flying?

I'd appreciate any experiences anyone could share.

coolwings

It's not so strong, but if you sheet it and contain it inside 1mm balsa or obechi, why not have a go?

Let us know how you get on.

shannonpowerlab

I was thinking about wrapping it with paper and PVA then a thin layer of fibreglass on the underside of the wing...

coolwings

That sounds like it would work. The skin contains the foam and reduces twisting during flight.
There is also the possibility of cutting a slot, removing some foam, and dropping in a glue covered rectangular balsa spar, or carbon tube if it happens to be a big wing.

shannonpowerlab

That might do.

I'm peeling off the foil backing on it now....feels a bit heavier than styrofoam.

shannonpowerlab

Nah,

Way too messy. Also that thing distorts so much once I peeled the backing foil.

Way too floppy to get any dimensional accuracy with it.

galwayron

you really need a foam that you can cut using a hot wire. Ordinary white foam will do (standard 3" thick sheets will so...I've used them and had good results). Kingspan looks ok but is fire retardant, so will not melt with a hot wire cutter.

If you use thin ply templates, you can make a good core. then cut a slot and epoxy in a spar on upper and lower surface, add a leading and trailing edge.
The cover with heavy brown paper (using copydex with some food colouring to get an even distribution of glue)

I learned all I know from a book:
http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Radio-Control-Foam-Modelling-David-Thomas-/110698815402#ht_2531wt_1186

It really good ..