Can the Evergreen tubes or Estes BT-5 Body Tubes shown here be used to pass servo wires through wing panels?
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...ES&S2=&S3=&S4=

Which would be better? I would prefer the Estes but they are coated with wax which means glue won't stick to them.
So which product, if either, would be best to pass the servo wires through? And what size?

I just roll up a sheet of paper. Tape two together if you need it longer.

You can also just roll up a sheet of paper and tack it in place with CA. This is how the tubes were made for a Dazzler kit I recently built.

It's easier on a kit, but even if you are doing them on an ARF wing you could do the same thing. You would only be able to glue it at the servo bay and at the wing root, but it should hold just fine.

Good luck

I'm not familar with the evergreen tubing, but I wouldn't expect a problem gluing to the estes tubes, I was always able to glue fins on when I built rockets. But the rolled paper will work just as well. You just need something to giude the wires through the wing.

I want to use prefabbed tubes, just my preference, and I want to use the Estes BT-5 Body Tubes
Would 1/2 diameter be good? What would that make the inside diameter?

The .5in diameter tubes would be fine, the inside diameter would be very close to the same since the wall is very thin.

If you need a smaller tube due to a thin airfoil, use soda straws, pull the housing off the end of the servo lead and the wires will slip right through. The problem though is if you need an extention, and there you will need to the 1/2" plus tube.

I've got to share an aileron servo lead nightmare that I aquired. I bought a 1.20 size pattern plane from a retired club member. The aileron servos were installed, but on a Y-harness. Not knowing what servos were used, or their condition, I decided to remove the old servos and put new ones in. The builder of the plane, a scratch built one, made things very dificult. He had cut rectrangle holes in the ribs, just big enough to clear the plug ends. Then the topping on the cake, he wrapped the servo leads with masking tape at each rib so the tape was through the rib, then he glued the tape to the ribs. I had to remove three bays of coverring on the bottom of the wing, then cut three access holes in the top sheeting to break out each of these glue messes. Then I had to enlarge the holes in the ribs to clear a plug not mater the orentation of the plug. I grit me teeth and curse at the unknown builder every time I look at the plane.

Don

weight is your enemy...use a rolled up piece of paper, its easy and weighs less than a rocket body.....lighter is better
Good Luck

Agree with JetMech. The tubes you want to use are much heavier than a paper tube. But if you are set on using them then there's no reason why you can't. The choice is entirely yours.

Ken

How much can paper tubes weigh? The info says they are lightweight. They should be OK in a Super Sportster 40.

As my first RC instructor told me, it's your plane, you can do what you want with it!!
As builders most of us just use rolled up bond paper. I wrap mine around a 1/2 inch dowel then tape it, after it is inside the wing I use CA and glue them in.
!/2 inch rocket tubes will work just fine, just a bit of unwanted weight. If it's a problem you can always buy a bigger engine!![8D]

What would weigh less, the estes tubes or aluminum tubes? http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXS010&P=7

5.8 grams per tube according to http://www.apogeerockets.com/body_tubes.asp
Not even enough weight added to be a factor. And after sanding off the wax it will be even lighter.
Rolled paper in my opinion looks sloppy.

Rolled up paper looks just as neat as any tube. But it won't matter once the wing is covered because you can't see it any longer anyway. But as others have said, what you want to use will work. It's your plane set it up however you wish.

Ken

Well, WZAK29, if you read this thread, what do you think, we are building the planes together? These tubes or rolled paper?

I would like to use the tubs.

The paper tubes
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXF571&P=7
or aluminum
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXS010&P=7

email me for details

Do not go with aluminum they are defiently heavier. I agree with everyone else to just use paper. The cardboard tubes aren't that heavy but why spend $7 if you dont have to.

But it seems to me that you have already made your mind up anyway.

Definitely NOT the aluminum tubes. Paper or cardboard, both work fine and have used both.

hey, why not use 1/2" iron pipe?

All it does let you string the servo wire through them.

Me and wzak29 are entitled to our preferences. And he agrees he would rather use paper tubes, we are doing a build of the same plane and techniques.

Keep your wisecracks to yourself please.

fine, let me send you some lead tubes.

Whatever.

Ok, I've had to step in and clean up this thread. I think this thread has just about ran it's course. I'm closing it down

Thread locked

Ken