Senorita..need help~

In the plans for the wing, they show two spars spaced quite equidistantly between the leading and trailing edges.

In the constuction booklet, they show the area between the leading edge and the spar covered with balsa.and also between the trailing edge and the spar.

It looks like a great idea to strengthen the wing in the event of a (not possible) CRASH! Would 1/32 balsa, perhaps 5 sheets add too much weight to the anticipated weight of about 5lbs.

Martin Moleski would probably say, "Go ahead, be brave, take a chance, try it..etc. And I agree!!!!!!! But...well...no guts!

Thanks! MPPGabriel

Reply to
mppg1
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The Seniority is a well designed model. Build it as shown on the plans.

Extra weight increases the odds that the model will crash. Light models recover better when in awkward situations. Heavier models do not recover as well.

Have faith in the folks at Sig. They know what they are doing.

Ed Cregger

Reply to
Ed Cregger

Foiled again by the spell checker!

Robbie

Reply to
Robert Reynolds

I confess that I didn't quite follow, but-

The narrow answer about whether it would add too much weight - no, the Seniorita could easily handle it. However-

I'm going to agree with the other poster - don't re-inforce it beyond the instructions. The Seniorita is a well-designed plane. In general, adding wood to a well-designed plane is NOT an improvement.

Strengthening the wing doesn't generally do much good for crash resistance on a high-wing plane like the Snita- if you land more-or-less right side up, even the stock wing won't be damaged; if the wing strikes the ground, then it'll probably break regardless of any reinforcement.

For gliders (big launch loads) and aircraft that do high-G maneuvers, wing strength can be a real concern, but I've seen & flown a lot of Senioritas and I've never heard of a wing structural failure, despite some pretty wild flights. Build it stock.

- Mark

Reply to
Mark

On Thu, 5 Jun 2008 11:40:55 -0700 (PDT), snipped-for-privacy@msn.com wrote in :

You got me pegged, mppg!

I disagree with the other fellows who suggest that the Seniorita can't carry a few exta sheets of balsa. It's the kind of plane that you can strap a camera to for aerial photography. It's got plenty of carrying capacity.

Having said that, I would recommend 3/32 balsa for sheeting. I also wouldn't run it the whole length of the wing. You're not going to get any extra strength out of 1/32".

And even if you do sheet some of the wing, it's not going to offer any decent crash protection. If you're doing cartwheels, bad stuff is going to happen to either kind of wing, probably.

Here's a thought: build one wing light and a copy of it heavy. See how each flies. If you crash either one, you'll have the other already in hand, ready to go flying again. :o)

Marty

Reply to
Martin X. Moleski, SJ

A not so elegant solution to a non-existent problem.

Tejas Pedro

Reply to
Random Excess

AFAIK About the only real benefit of sheeting some of the wing has to do with flutter caused by the wing wanting to twist, unless you are going to use rubber bands. The 4star120 is reported to have that problem and that is one of several different solutions.

*I* think the Seniorita will fly slightly better with the stiffer wing. Will the extra stiffness offset the added weight? Try it and find out. I strongly suspect that you will be unable to tell since most of us do not instrument our birds.

YMMV

Jim Branaum AMA 1428

Reply to
Six_O'Clock_High

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