SuperCub Man

Waco ARE
I will soon be starting to build the Brisighella Waco ARE 1/4 scale cabin bi-plane and the plans note that the original had sheeted wings. Dario opted to use cloth coveringbut I would like to go more scale. However I am concerned about weight! Does anyone have an idea how much heavier it would be to sheet the two wings with 3/32 balsa? How about 1/64 ply? Then a light covering of 3/4oz FG with laminating Epoxy? I would normally cover my wings with Sig Koverall and a couple of coats of Nitrate dope followed by a couple of coates of Krylon from a rattle can! If sheeting is too heavy, this is still the way I will go.
This plane will not be flown as a "3D" but just a gentle Sunday flyer. It is extimated on the plans to be 20 to 24lbs with an old Quadra 50cc. as a suggested power plant and a wing loading from20 to 34oz. I will mount a spare G-62 which should be plenty of power, but I still don't want a really heavy model although the G-62 is not helping with that goal! Any thoughts??

kdc

You could calculate the number of square feet of the wings and then weigh samples of ply and balsa to work out weight per sq foot. Digital kitchen scales are quite accurate. I found a sheet of 1/64 birch ply weighed about 1 and quarter oz per sq foot. ( obviously I didn't cut a foot square, I weighed a large sheet and worked out how many sq inches and divided by 144 to get sq feet. Then I divided the actual weight in ounces by the exact sq feet. The final figure was 1.270 ozs per sq ft ) Weigh a 4 inch by 36 balsa ( 1 sq ft ) of the grade required. The first sheet of 3/32 I picked up weighed 1 and half oz for 4inch by 36 but was fairly firm grade. Allow weight of glue too. Same with covering weigh a piece and calculate the weight for a sq ft.

Calculating the cost too might make the decision easier!

SuperCub Man

kdc - thanks for that. I was hoping more for a general opinion from someone who has faced the same problem - but - if I have to I have to!!

Thanks for the reply!