Helpful hints taken from the AMA National Newsletter

Lead Shot-By Fred Harvey, Lead shot is a useful modeling tool. Most aircraft need some weight added to them, usually in the nose, to move the CG to its proper location. If your aircraft tend to come out as tail-heavy as mine do, it often takes more than just putting on a heavy prop hub to fix the problem. I use a plastic sandwich bag and slowly pour a bit of shot into it. The bag is usually located in the fuel tank compartment and I can get just the right amount of weight, in just the right spot.

From Vapor Tales, Derby Radio Control Club, Fred Harvey , editor, Derby , KS .

Re-warp a wing- Use a hot air popcorn popper! I came across this idea while perusing an old publication. It was timely in that I was tuning up two ships, both of which were heat-shrink covered, and both needed more washout in one wing panel. Being an Orville Redenbacher connoisseur, I happened to have a hot air popper, so away we went. Unlike working with a heat gun, you can just set the base of the popper down, freeing both hands to twist the wing panel. At first it didn’t seem as if the popper would get hot enough, but you just work closer to the opening than with a heat gun. And the broader area of coverage lets the whole wing panel heat more uniformly. I’d do it again. From the Society of Antique Modelers, SAM26, Robert Angel , editor, Santa Maria CA

Screw Holes and Strong Joints- A good way to line up where the screw holes should go when fastening your cowl to your fuselage is to put a rubber band around the cowl and use it as a guide to keep all of the holes lined up. If you want to beef up the stress points or where two halves of a cowl or wheel pants are glued together, try this. Apply a piece of fiberglass tape over the desired area on the inside of the cowl. Next glue it down using PVC pipe glue. The PVC glue will soften the plastic and allow the fiberglass to permanently bond to the cowl. This process makes a very strong joint and is easy to do. PVC adhesive is cheap, fiberglass parts are not.

Servo Wires-Did you do the best job of covering your new wing you have ever done only to find out you forgot to run the servo wires through the wing? Try tying a piece of string to the connector end of the servo and put the string near the servo hole. Next put the nozzle of your trusty Shop Vac near the exit hole and turn the vacuum on. The vacuum will suck the string right through the wing and out the hole. Now all you have to do is pull the connector end of the wire through the wing and plug it in. Both above are from West Jersey Wind, West Jersey Radio Control Club, Tom Voorhis , Editor, Gibbsboro NJ

Edge Gluing Sheet- By Bob Furr . Watching the new video that Ed Prohaska has done on covering foam wings with balsa sheet, I noticed that he had to spend quite a bit of time removing a bead of Sig-Ment glue that had formed when he glued two sheets together along the edge. One trick to minimize this is to first tape the sheet together with wide Scotch tape then slice it back apart leaving the tape on the two pieces of wood. Once you have done that, tape the wood together from the other side like usual. When you put the glue into the joint, now any bead that forms will be on the Scotch tape and not the wood. Once it dries fully, you just pull the scotch tape off and the bead of excess glue comes with it, leaving the sheet of wood glue-free on the surface. At most, you will have a little sanding to do to smooth the joint.

Gloves for CyA- By bob Furr- Ed talked on the foam wing video about needing gloves to work with CyA and he not being able to use Latex gloves because of an allergy. One thing that works really well and is inexpensive is to use cheap plastic sandwich bags to cover your hands. They work well and are thin enough that you can feel the heat of the glue as it sets. This works really well when you are applying glass cloth with CyA, as you can hold the cloth to the balsa and feel when the glue sets. It lets you use very little CyA to put down the cloth and saves quite a bit of weight.

Rub-Jointing- by Bob Furr- A close-fitting butt joint will often bond satisfactorily under atmospheric pressure without clamping. You can achieve this by wettng both surfaces with glue, then rubbing them together to squeeze glue and air out of the joint while aligning the components. This method is known as a rubbed joint. Don’t use this if there is any reasonable way to get the parts clamped together to ensure a good fit. Above three from the Orbiting Eagles Newsletter, Orbiting Eagles, N.F. Sheltraw, editor, Omaha NE.

  Upside-down Shelves- by Bob Furr . Here is a neat and fast storage idea to put some of that high up space (if you have high-ceiling work area) to better use. Bolt together a set of inexpensive metal shelves (about$12 at most centers) and attach them upside down to the ceiling joists with lag bolts. The spacing between the shelves is completely adjustable on most models. Trim the shelf posts to just the right height with tin snips. This keeps your floor space open and allows you to slip a workbench or rolling toolbox under the shelves.

Jam Nuts- by Bob Furr . If you have ever had the problem of a prop nut coming lose inside a spinner, you will want to listen up. One thing you can do that works well is to use a jam nut. This is nothing more than another prop nut tightened up against the first one you put on. It locks the first nut in place and keeps your prop from working loose. One thing to keep in mind is that if you are using a wood prop, the wood will compress over time and both nuts will need to be tightened. Do this one at a time getting the nut closest to the prop tight first and then tighten the other nut while holding the first in place.

Tricky Sanding- by Bob Furr . Intricate cuts and small, hard-to-reach place can be easy to sand if you use emery boards. These small file-like sanders are easy to handle and provide two sanding grits. For more range of grits, glue different grades of sandpaper into wooden ice cream or craft sticks. Another way to sand hard to reach areas is to attach self-adhesive sandpaper to your fingertip. This will allow you to have a good feel for the surface you’re sanding and greater control over the work. To sand into a corner, apply the sandpaper to the blade of a stiff putty knife. above three from the Orbiting Eagles Newsletter, Omaha NE.

CyA Glue Bottles- Next time you empty a CyA glue bottle, pop it in a jam jar with some acetone to clean out the remains of the CyA glue. After a couple of days, remove it and dry it out. Then refill it with PVA’s glue. You may have to open up the end to make a bigger hole due to the thicker glue. Keep the top in case you ruin the top of your next bottle.

Cutting Heat Shrink Covering- When cutting heat shrink covering, try using glass for a surface to cut on. It doesn’t appear to dull the knife or drag the blade back while cutting. If the backing of the covering is removed first (not the trim tape as this can reduce the adhesion of the tape), the covering material will cling to the glass, making for easier cutting. You can also use low heat to make it stick even better for critical cutting. You can use solvent to put together large panels of covering without it sticking to the work surface.

Drilling Balsa- Removing broken off nylon wing bolts after a bad landing can be a pain. Use a Stanley knife to carefully cut a slit across the end of the bolt. Then, using a very small flat screwdriver no wider than the bolt, gently remove the screw. If the bolt is tight and the screwdriver slips out, repeat operation. Also try putting a 1/16-ply washer/rubber wing or landing gear on the airplane. This will take up some of the shock and if the bolt does, it tends to leave little bit sticking out from the hole.

Epoxy Too Cold?- If your epoxy gets too cold, it will become too thick and you can’t get it out of the plastic bottle, unless you are Hercules. Try placing the bottles in a bowl of hot water for a few seconds. This will not harm the epoxy and it will run like water if left long enough. Watch out, though, as it does appear to shorten the hardening time slightly. Above four from Contact, First State RC Club, Tim Mihalski , editor, Hockessin DE .