Talkin' about light balsa...

After posting a note about a chunk of 1" balsa I went to my shop, and in a big cardboard box where I throw the scraps I dug out some of the lightest pieces of balsa I've ever seen in my life.

Found some big pieces of balsa, in various sizes and thickness that seem to wheigh nothing!

I keep trying to remember where did that stuff come from, to no avail...

Could it be that the fact of it being kept for some years in a dry and warm place in the shop made tha wood dry up and loose weight?

I just don't recall throwing such good stuff in the scrapbox...

I would be willing to hock my horn to get a supply of that kinda balsa.

In Christ,

I think you are right, Ion. Balsa slowly desicates when sitting around a long time.

And, of course, true when the balsa is a part of an assembled plane, too. Time almost is like a balsa weight reduction program (opposite of humans). This is especially true if you have a plane framed up, but not painted in any way.

Case in point: a Swap Nobler that was framed, but the builder lost interest at that point. I bought it precisely for the fact that it was so light, and had potential to stay that way once it was ready to fly. It ended up at 37 ounces with a Fox, and will fly 6 second laps in reasonably still air.

Hey, Currell,

Guess I should build a couple of planes and let'em "mature", just like them fancy guys do with wines...

Waddya think about a "2003 vintage Vector .40" five years from now?

The problem is that I'd have to put it in a safe, with a time lock, just like they do in banks, to keep me from splasin' some paint on it and going to the field.

Or maybe I'g have to build some nice ships, leave'em raw (no paint or nothing), try to rob a bank or comit any crime that would give me some 3 or 4 years in the "sneezer".

When I got out I'd be an ex-con, convicted felon etc., but on the bright side I'd have some neat, light ships to fly...

In Christ,

Ion <><

Or you could simply hang them on the wall of the shop for a few months, the same shop that dried out your box full of scrap balsa.

Cy

It comes from Ecuador.

Shouldn't balsa be cheap, so close to Ecuador?

If crime doesn't pay, why are there so many crooks?

Ion, you'd be better off buying a stock of balsa and letting it sit for a few years, then build those light airplanes. As the wood dries, it also becomes less prone to warping. I know on the sitka spruce they use on my guitar tops, they say it loses about 50% of its water every year. So in the first year you lose 50%, then in year 2 you would loose 50% of what was left, and so on and so forth. After five or six years the wood is pretty dry, and you don't have to worry about warps as much. Dry wood makes for good tone. That's one of the reasons some of the really old acoustics sound so good, especially them 20's and 30's Martins with the really light scalloped bracing...ah, but now we're on a different subject.

That depends on where you live. Over here, wood probably GAINS 50% more water every year!

In 1980, flying partner Doug Ellis worked at Sheldon's Hobby Shop in San Jose, the old store on Alum Rock Ave, prior to the move to Oakland Rd. The balsa rack was nearly ceiling-high, (10 ft. under 12 ft. ceiling)
A gent was looking for some contest balsa, and Doug led him to the rack. "Dense wood here, on the lower shelves. Lighter balsa up higher. Really light balsa..." Doug pointed to the ceiling, where he had taped a few sheets of 3"X 36". "That's the Really light balsa."
The gent didn't reply, just kept looking at this balsa that had 'floated there'...
Mike in Atwater