>My problem with the tubing approach was the same one you pointed out though. >It would have to be a larger tube than most wings could accomidate in order >to be strong enough to do the job.
I don't think that's the case. The stiffness goes up very fast with outside diameter, and only a slightly larger tube would be required. Consider these approaches: 0.094" (3/32") steel wire relative stiffness 1.0 relative weight 1.0 0.125" (1/8") steel wire relative stiffness 3.2 relative weight 1.8 0.134" hypo tubing, 0.015" wall (10 gauge) relative stiffness 2.5 relative weight 0.75 0.148" hypo tubing, 0.015" wall (9 gauge) relative stiffness 3.7 relative weight 0.9 0.165" hypo tubing, 0.015" wall (8 gauge) relative stiffness 5.3 relative weight 1.0 If you have a long 3/32" RDS rod which is too flexible in torsion, you can simply cut off the two ends and acid-solder them directly into a length of the 10-gauge hypo tubing, for a large stiffness increase and a small weight reduction. Or solder them into the 9-gauge tubing (using 1/8" K&S brass sleeves to keep concentric) for a huge stiffness increase. Fitting the 0.148" tubing into a slightly enlarged 3/32"-rod channel should not be a problem. Switching from 1/8" wire to 8-gauge tubing shouldn't be much of a problem either. - Mark RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
