Today I'm going to try to finish up the Blue Angel Wing is born thread. The first part of this thread dealt with getting the templates made to cut the foam wing. This thread will show how you go from the templates to the wings.

The closed cell foam I buy comes in 9 foot sheets, 3 feet wide and 4 inches thick. I purchase these from a foam supplier in Raleigh. Obviously I have to cut these huge sheets down to model size. Just as if you were cutting wood, you try to get as many useful parts from a sheet as possible.

Using this method I first cut down the large sheet to 3 pieces for a plane. 2 pieces are for the left and right wing panel while the 3rd piece will be cut in two pieces to make the left/right stabilizer. To do this, I use what I call "The Chopper" which is a Variable transformer controlled moveable Dress Rack with the cutting wire mounted on clear, insulating tubing and the nichrome stretched across the two uprights. You will see the Chopper in the first picture along with Michelle, my wife, and head of Quality Control. After the big pieces are cut out, they must be made to conform to the dimensions of each individual part. The next picture shows the markings for the stab cuts. You will note that I use a Sharpie Black marker to draw out the part and then cut to the INSIDE of the line. Using a high heat setting the Chopper cuts thru the big pieces relatively quickly and accurately. You will see how I split the stab core in picture 3. Picture 4 shows the size of one half of the wing core. After the big pieces are cut (and a reality check done to make certain they match the templates) it is then time to use the AMAP foam cutter to cut the cores. In preparation, the bottom of the wing template is matched up to the precut core and I use finishing nails to hold the template in place. As you can see, the template has a flat bottom which will line up with the slate pool table top I cut on plus the vertical marks align the template with the leading/trailing edges of the core. This is shown in pictures 5 and 6.

The next step is to cut the cores. I will put those pictures in the next thread.

Dan
Carolina Custom Aircraft
[email protected]