RE: Building reliable stabs for Jets
Matt,
Yep very similar to rohacell. Rohacell is available here in the us through CST, but the pricing is insane!
You can also order it through ClaraSonics (in taiwan i believe) for slightly less, but shipping kills you. Especially if you need large sheets
There is also the pink PVC foam that B1-Bob uses in his F105's, i believe he gets that from associated industries. Its much cheaper ($60-80 for a 1/8"x4x8 sheet i beleve) and they are willing to cut its size down to work for cheap shipping. 1/8" is pretty thick stuff though and typically overkill, unless its a BIG model.
Harald Huff's Su-26 utilizes 1.2mm airex for the fuse and 2mm for the wings.
I have built the stabs for my F14 using 3mm rohacell 71 with only 2 layers of glass, a carbon tow spar cap, 1/2" titanium pivot shaft w/ 1/8" titanium antipivot rod 6" long sandwhiched in a 1/8" aircraft ply rib and a 1/4" balsa sheer webbin running from the end of the pivot rod to the stab tip.
The stab is so strong, i have literally clampedthe pivot shaft to a chair with the composite section hanging off the chair and sat ON the stab without it breaking, im 185lb's.
Point being, 3mm is overkill for most everything, but i still plan to use 3mm on my Tomcat wings as i dont mind the extra weight for the increased strength