Solid Wing Trainer

I am putting together a trainer for my 10 year old. The plane will have a Fox 15 slant plug in the nose. The wing for the first one will be solid - e.g. just a sheet or slab of balsa. Any
suggestions on stock thickness, 1/4" or 3/16"? I plan on covering the wing with silkspan or CF veil to give it a little strength for the inevitable errors of first flight...

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

On any of these you fight the opposites of light weight for good flight and strength to survive the inevitable. 1/4 inch should be fine for the wing. 3/8 would give you more depth. Carbon veil doesn't add a lot of strength since it is composed of short fibers going in random direcctions. It can add stiffness, and is a good base for the finish. I would suggest adding carbon fiber strips, .007 or even .014 about 2/3 the length of the wing and also along the sides of the fuselage. Keep the nose solid and reinforce the fuselage right behind the wing. Covering that area with light weight fiberglass would, also, help. And you could cover a wide section of the center of the wing with lightweight fiberglass--and either round or taper the edges so there is no sharp break there. You could add another narrower piecer over the top of this in the center which would add strength to the areas where it is most likely to break, while at the same time keeping weight down. Doing all this, softer wood might be in order and would provide adequate strength.

Do you know a good wheat field where he could do his first flights in?

>On any of these you fight
>the opposites of light weight
>for good flight and strength
>to survive the inevitable.
>1/4 inch should be fine
>for the wing. 3/8
>would give you more depth.

Thanks. The plane will come from extra stock that I am cleaning out, so there may be some relatively stiff stock. Nothing "RC" class....

Figure it will get broken a few times. Being a solid, it should go back together fairly easily.

>Do you know a good wheat
>field where he could do
>his first flights in?

Unfortunately, we don't grow much wheat around here - so no good stubble to crash into. Most everything is corn or beans, and that is harvested. What is left is baked brick hard from the drought.

I will probably take him over to a small field behind some abandoned helipad on Fort Benning and try him there.

Thanks for the input.

For extra strength, cover the wing with silkspan.

I would go w/ 3/8" thickness.

Bob --
Keep in touch on your project. I would like to build a similar trainer, only for my grandkids instead of my children!
Guillows had a similar trainer, and it was my first CL plane. You think maybe 100 in^2 (4 * 28 tapered to 3 * 28 at the tips)? Or am I way off base on the size? I was never too familiar with size on the smaller engine sizes.
LN and C had good suggestions, and I think I will go 3/8 and silkspan over.
Symmetrical airfoil (sanded to templates), a relatively long tail moment, and a larger stabilizer than elevator seem natural. Agree?
Flying off thick grass, we need big wheels.
Planes like this don't need plans, but I would appreciate dimensions, whether you are unhappy with your efforts. Thanks