h-ray-RCA

Sitting here breathing balsa dust as I'm sanding another piece of square balsa into a round shape. Just wondering why kits don't use a piece of round dowel instead? This le happens to be a perfect radius that I could have subb'd a piece of 5/16" dowel.

It seems that dowels have a bit moer torsionsal stiffness, but would be harder to reapir.

Any ideas why/why not?

swooper

Some kits do use dowels for the LE. Sometimes they're hard to glue with CA. As for kits using rectangular balsa, I think it's just cheaper.

Scar

My Feedback: (3)

I was complaining about all the sanding when I was building my Contender wing. One of the builders suggested a razor plane to knock down the sanding time. Yet another sort of looked at me funny and said "You know, you can buy that preshaped leading edge stuff in 36" lengths..."

Good luck,
Dave Olson

SST

My Feedback: (2)

I have a Norvel Tutor (OOP) that used dowel LE. I love it, because I like to build in my washout, and I'm not twisting the LE to build. The kit was made for Norvel by House of Balsa, and I've often wondered if that cute Decathlon of theirs has the same wing...

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

Another reason for NOT using a dowel is that the shape of the LE can be critical on some planes. A sharp LE will make the plane more aerobatic, but it will also raise the stall speed, while a blunt LE will allow the plane to fly slower, but it won't be as "Snappy"

rc-sport

My Feedback: (12)

Yea...I thoght they shape of the leading edge was determined by the shape of the airfoil. A round dowel would only work on a few wings.

leftnut

My Feedback: (1)

straight cord wings.....
the eagle 2 has dowls.
i use dowls on a 4* .40 in earlier years. after all the saw dust.... the balsa
wasn't too straight and purdy.[&o]

on some wings the root is thinker than the tips
as miniflyer stated...you have to make a decision on this sequent of building
to determind how you want your airship to fly

i jump for joy now when a preshape , presloted for the ribs LE comes in a kit.
pre tappered, pre slotted TE too.
i still hate beveling the control surfaces thou

SST

My Feedback: (2)

I don't know what you've been building, but with the exception of flat plate wings, I haven't built an untapered wing in 20 years that couldn't have been made with a dowel LE.

rc-sport

My Feedback: (12)

I'd rather shape square strip of balsa than hardwood dowel.

h-ray-RCA

Yeah, I guess I should have been a bit more specific. The wing I am building is a perfect match for a 1/4" dowel, and they give a piece of 1/4" square to shape and sand. I love building but I have a hard time getting my LE's to come out consistently smooth all the way across.

Jim Messer

My Feedback: (2)

A dowel won't work with most of the airfoils that I use. I use square balsa set into the ribs at a 45 degree angle. Then I plank to it, add capstrips etc., and then sand the leading edge to the shape it must be for the airfoil to be correct.

Once upon a time I manufactured 1/4 scale kits. Some of these kits used dowels in one place or another. It is almost impossible to buy a dowel that is true and straight - nearly all of them are bent or twisted. In my designs, I do use dowels as alignment tools (like between round bulkheads), but in those cases I always purchased "wood" arrow shafts which always came straight and true.

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

h-ray, to get the LE to come out right, break the corners with a sanding block, then hold the wing with the LE facing up, and use a strip of sandpaper like a shoe-shine rag working it along the length of the LE as you go