Hello Ola,

In general I think that lighter wings must be better for the reasons mentioned in your post. That said, I know of one very well respected international class F3A pilot who is alleged to add ballast to his wing tips to make the model more stable in turbulent conditions!

My Gaudius wings are a little lighter than yours – around 370 grms bare weight and 440 grms with a JR DS8401 servo and MK ball-raced fittings. Posted weights for a Spark EVO are also around 375 grms bare weight. For comparison, the bare weights of the wings on my Wind S Pro (built up balsa rather than foam) are also around 370 grms - 390 grams including fences. (The Wind S wings are also considerably thinner in section than the Gaudius.)

It is interesting to note that Andrew Jesky achieved 3rd place in Muncie with a Spark (which I assume was fitted with composite wings) with many observers commenting that Andrew’s snaps were the cleanest and most impressive in the competition. There may have been other highly placed fully composite aircraft in the finals that I’m not aware of.

One other point worth making is that many composite wings are top hinged. Some pilots would claim that aircraft with top hinged wings do not roll as axially as those with centre hinged wings. I can only say that I have found the rolling characteristics of my Gaudius to be first class and certainly on par with my Wind S Pro which is noted for its excellent rolling abilities. Indeed overall, I have found my fully composite Gaudius to be an outstanding aeroplane. If I was to find fault, unless a fairly fast rotation rate is dialled in, it can sometimes be a bit slow to change direction in spins such as those in P11 and P13. In theory – and perhaps in practice also - this is something that a lighter wing should help with.

F3A is all about incremental improvement and in that sense it is difficult to argue against the case for lighter wings. However as things stand, I would agree with Dave Lockhart when he says that for most pilots, the very small additional weight of high quality composite wings is more than compensated by the added longevity and lack of maintenance.

Bob Wasson

UK