The glider I mentioned did have an engine, a .15 as I recall but it was usually only at idle when in the air.
The big yellow Prime Cut I built was with wood from Lone Star and I had also posted a thread about what total crap the wood was and when I tried to speak with the owner about it he wouldn't phone back. The wood was long blocks and so soft you could put a finger through it. Looked like they were using it for a sword fight too, lot of dings in it plus deep cracks in it. When I ripped it those cracks were so deep the sheets would split. It also cost me all my modeling money to buy it so I was forced to use the total crap.
Lone Star is no longer in business from what I hear so I suspect they were getting rid of all there crap wood at that time. It was soon after that they closed there doors.
I haven't bought wood from anyone else sence, just haven't needed to.
I haven't gotten any bad wood from National. There are other good wood suppliers I have used in the past and some not so good. I found Midwest wood to be hard and heavy but it's carried at my local craft store and there when I need it. They just over charge for it but are cheaper then others with there ply sheets.
I don't buy raw balsa so I just need to keep my eye on the grain when cutting.
have cut blanks from trees, Walnut, when I was making gun stocks. You just use a chain saw and remove small pieces until you can see the grain then you cut the blanks, wax the ends and age/dry. We cut black walnut trees for farmers in the central valley and only asked for the crotch wood where all the limbs came together and the figured wood was.
Only reason I have all these wood working tools is because I live in a large community that has a club for everything you can think of. The Wood Chips is the first club I joined when I moved here. It has everything you could think of, we can even custom cut our own crown molding if needed. We have some very talented men and women here.