PATRICK, I've been stealing other peoples' ideas for a long time, that's all.

Back to chords, I remember looking at a REYNOLDs number chart that showed model weights and speeds, and one thing stuck with me from that, a 4 inch chord wing needs to be very lightly loaded at medium speed and lower to be doing any flying at all. The numbers were almost twice as good when you move up to a 5" chord, and 6" chord seemed well within the safety zone for most small gas RC models. The other thing to consider is torsional stiffness, whatever we come up with had better not do a wing warping number while we are trying to fly it on the straight and narrow. That is what plagues the FSOD. When it was brand new, it flew pretty good, but now the stressed out wing is too twisty and flexy to fly around with no surprises, this is an extreme example. Another reason why I like more wood fiber, at least at the wing root.

I want to see if this plane will be fun with a BIG MIG and a 6 x 3 prop. It will be easy enough to make a 30" wing to go along with this stubby one, and I'm already rethinking the fuselage, to make it even less work than the first one, but maybe a little more jet like?. I ended up glassing the nose on this one after doing all the shaping and rounding, because the wood was getting thin in some spots, and I don't use doublers, just corner stock.