More posts, more pictures........there is very little information on this specialized form of building, people have very little selection as to what is available.  This is a very unique area that requires the ultimate in strength, but the minimum in weight.  Good building technique is essential and the amount of resources to draw from  limited.  Having pictures of the process is a great way of conveying the build, sometimes more valuable than the text, but both are best.     Full scale has good documentation on build and repair, Radio Control has RCU.     With the posts you've done I'm more inclined to get more involved in the high speed arena than I was before finding them.   My $.02 ,     Randy

Thanks Randy. That's the kind of information I was looking for.

Here are a couple of photos of a Swee' Pea lay-up that show the carbon fiber. The nose was already very stiff on the Swee' Pea, but with the carbon fiber, it is VERY stiff.

Here is that fuselage. You can see the carbon fiber through the primer somewhat.

fascinating threads Don, please keep posting.  i am very interested in pylon/speed, it's threads like this and others that gets the juices flowing.</p>

thx.</p>

Don- can you price out a Swee'Pea with a foam wing slotted for a full depth spar?   With a sport engine it should be affordable entry level Q40 "trainer" for us wanna be up and comming pilots.  What do you do (or we do) for gear?  More information!  More pics!   How's yer health doing, know you've been having issues, hope all better................... Thanks,    Randy

Randy,

The fiberglass and foam Swee' Pea kit is $125 plus $15 shipping. I have plenty of fuselages. I have the templates for the foam cores printed out, but I haven't made them yet. Scott hartman is waiting on me to make them, so I need to get them made pretty soon. It doesn't take but a couple of hours. And then I'll be set.

When you say for gear, are you talking about radio gear or landing gear? The Great Planes L1 landing gear fits right on it, but I'm getting custom gear made as well. I have engine mounts for the TT Pro 40. Need to get Dub to make some more though.

Health-wise, I'm getting better. The diabetes and sugar levels are stabilizing and I have energy again. And I got new contacts on Monday. The left one did not work out. So I got a new left distance contact yesterday. I have to wear readers to see up close. But I just got in from flying the Twist 3D down on the field and it was GREAT!!!. I'm not fully adjusted to the prescription, but I CAN FLY. And that is a BIG DEAL to me. I was really bummed thinking I wasn't going to be able to fly. I flew a Typhoon 3D in the yard yesterday and I pretty much knew I was going to be ok. So my spirits are much improved and I'm getting a lot more stuff done now.

Have you got the wing vacuum bagging process worked out now? Did those wing sections and accessories get you going?

Don- when you get Scott's wings in the cutter, make me some also.  Looks like you've got things under control on the composite side, but I'd probably waste an expensive wing, so I'll go for the foam version. The gear question, both!  I'm assumeing that mini servos are the norm, will LouisS's quickie gear fit?  Can we say "Q40 trainer"? Can't let MrH have all the fun, the build looks like it is within my capabilities.   To quote the professor on Laugh In,  Veddy Intedesting.....    Randy

I normally use mini size servos but you don't have to. I'd recommend mini servos if you have a painted finish. After building several Q-40's they seem to weigh in about 4 pounds if you fiberglass the wing and paint them. The 4 pound weight is the minimum weight for the 422 class racer.

Using standard servos adds about 2 ounces to the final model weight. A full size receiver battery pack adds a couple more ounces.

If the wing is covered in film (for TT powered versions only) you will save a couple ounce of weight. Full size servos can be used and still come out near the minimum weight.