I am building a foam core wing. I have sheeted it and attached the leading and trailing edges, both of which are rectangular and need to be sanded to shape. The instructions say to create a straight line down the center of the leading edge and to simply sand flush with the rest of the wing following the natural curve of the wing. Here's the problem. When I did this the trailing edge dissapeared, it became paper thin no matter how carefully I sanded it. So I squared it off with sand paper, leaving a aprox. 1/32" instead of the paper thin taper but now my wing, leading to trailing, is about a 1/4" to short in the tip and about a 1/8 " too short at the root. So when all is said and done my trailing edge is about 1/2" wide rather than 3/4" wide.

What should I do?

1. Should I just leave it and make sure both sides of the wing have an equal trailing edge size? That is sand the entire trailing edge to 1/2" in order to maintian the original overall relative shape of the wing.

2. Should I just leave it be the way it is? That is slightly shorter in the tip

3. Should I cut of the whole trailing edge and try to thicken up the wing by adding a piece of 1/32" balsa plank and feathering it to the shape of the wing?

This would give me a thicker trailing edge to start with and a slightly smaller angle on a new piece of edge stock. I am sure that my wing would fall within the specs on my plans but I am concerned that this may change the air foil and add extra weight. I was thinking about adding the extra balsa to the bottom of the trailing edge of the wing this would flatten out the air foil there a bit but I figure better a little flatter on the bottom than on the top. Am I being a crazy perfectionist? Should I just leave it alone? Or is there good reason to try and do anything possible in order to stay true to the plan and keep a 3/4 trailing edge?
Thanks for any words of wisdom. I'm sick of just looking at them and fiddling around with ideas. I want to get building!

Can we see a pic of the wing in its present condition? It might help if there was a little more to go on. But as you have described it, I think considering the shape of the wing and the fit at the root, you might leave it as is. On the other hand, you might consider trying to lighten the plane to compensate for the smaller wing area. I dont know. Just a thought.

on my combat planes I leave the trailing edge to what ever shape happens, all other planes I cap the trailing edge with balsa even if I have to remove some foam

Sorry, I don't have a digital camera or scanner. I barely have a computer. The diagram pretty much sums up the problem, my trailing edge is just getting a bit on the small side.

The wing has no other problems and otherwise is coming together beautifully.

Should I just let it be?

The plane is a Sig Bonanza. I am already lightening the plane by making built up tail feathers in a V fashion rather than the standard config solid ones furnished with the kit. I am also not adding retracts (they are not in my budget) so I don't see that weight should be a problem. Well not until I build this plane the next time around.