The lighter you make your foam RC model airplane, the better it will fly. This article will show you how to trim weight and increase the flight performance of your RC model airplane.

Use the right glue – Using the right glue is of critical importance during the construction of your foam RC model airplane. Use foam safe CA glue, and apply it very sparingly. It only takes a tiny drop to attach two parts properly. By using the right glue in the right amounts, you can reduce the overall weight of the RC model airplanes fuselage.

Make the radio system lighter – Choose a radio system with the lightest components possible. Find lightweight servos with weights between 4.7 and 7.8 grams, such as our Hitec or Draganfly brand micro servos. Try to get the lightest servos possible. You can reduce the weight of your radio system by removing the bottom portion of the servo case. In most cases, this can simply be unscrewed. The plastic receiver case can also be removed quite easily. As a last resort, you can attempt to directly solder the servo wires to the receiver. This will save the weight of the connectors, but only attempt this if you are very comfortable soldering.

Choose the right lipo battery – The battery is one of the heaviest components of any foam RC model airplane. Look at the different sizes of battery available, and compare brands to find the lightest. Choose a battery based on the physical limitations of the model and the flight time that you want. In most cases, a 350 Mah battery is sufficient.

Modify the landing gear – Most foam RC model airplanes come with plastic wheels. If you will only be flying your foam model indoors off of a smooth floor then you can remove them. There are several lighter landing gear systems you can use, but we recommend using a skid made out of piano wire or a spare push rod. This procedure shows you how to make one:

1. Cut the wire to the length that you want. You can save even more weight by making the wire as short as possible.
2. Using a pair of needle nose pliers, bend the end of the wire into a U shape.
3. Use CA glue to attach the wire to your models landing strut (usually made of carbon rod.)
4. Wrap the entire joint with Kevlar thread. Do not use too much, or it will offset the weight loss gained from removing the wheels.
5. Cover the area with a small amount of CA glue.

You can also add small foam wheel pants as decorations – the weight gain from this is minimal.
Follow these tips to reduce the weight of your foam RC model airplanes.

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How to Make Your Foam RC Model Airplane Lighter

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Race report by Teemu Leino
The Finnish Open race was held at Tampere. The track was hard-packed clay with good traction as there has been no rain in the last three weeks. The track was holding up really well all day long. The layout is pretty awesome with many different kind of jumps, tight corners, and [...]

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Teemu Leino Win Finnish Open

“The Finnish Open race was held at Tampere. The track was hard-packed clay with good traction as there has been no rain in the last three weeks. The track was holding up really well all day long. The layout is pretty awesome with many different kind of jumps, tight corners, and a long straight. It was sunny all day so it was perfect for racing for the approximately 60 drivers that attended. In two practice runs I tested two different sets of tires and different rear camber link positions on the shock tower. The car was working well, but I wanted it to be better. In first qualifying round I got TQ ahead of Joseph Quagraine by 0.4sec (it was super close) and Ari Heinonen finished third. I felt that the car was a little tricky to drive, but wasn’t sure if it was because of the new tires or setup, so I decided to run the second round with the same setup. We all made many mistakes in the second run but I was able to pull out TQ, and I was sure now that I needed to make some changes to make the car more stable as I couldn’t drive with that setup for the 45min final. So in the third run I made the front wheelbase shorter so the front wheels would get more weight, and I also changed the rear anti-roll bar from 2.6mm to 2.8mm to make the rear end run more flat and better over bumps. These changes worked really well and I made my best run of the day and got TQ by almost half a lap ahead of Ari.” Read More… [Source - teamxray.com]

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XB808 & Leino Win Finnish Open