Twinwall Wings - Planning a Wing Shape

Planning the shape?

This is where building with translucent twinwall really comes into its own. Don't worry if you're not using the clear stuff as the techniques can easily be used on coloured sheets.

With translucent sheets, all your sketching and shape planning can be done directly onto an MDF building board, and then cut out of the twinwall simply by tracing through the sheet over your lines.

Tip: You can also fit numerous different aircraft designs onto one side of a board.... simply draw each shape in black fineliner pen and then go over the lines with different coloured highlighter pens!

Firstly decide on the shape of your wing. If you're attempting a scale looking aeroplane then this will have been decided for you. If not, then maybe take a look at these examples for some inpiration.

Some general wing shapes

Straight LE, tapered TE	Double taper	Tapered LE, straight TE
Swept tapered wing	'Elliptical' type wing	Swept forward wing

There are an endless number of variations you could come up with from a straight non-tapered plank wing to an elliptical swept forward. Experimenting is fun but remember, you need a straight line for the majority of the leading edge (LE). Please note, these patterns do not show allowances for control surfaces - they are merely to illustrate a basic wing concept.

Wing halves

Given that many sheets of twinwall may not large enough to build a wing in one piece, it's advisable to split the wing into sections. Most practical wings will be simple left/right halves though it's possible to go for three or four sections on longer wings.
However, for the purposes of keeping it simple, let's stick to left and right. These two piece wings can be made very strong and reinforced at the root simply by wrapping a couple of layers of clear tape around the join or a central wrap of twinwall.

Carbon Spars

Our 6x4mm carbon tube makes an excellent spar for many wing applications. The carbon can be simply taped inside the lower surface using our Scotch tape and is therefore reusable. We also supply a short length of suitable size wire to make a dihedral brace / wing joiner. This fits perfectly into the 6x4mm carbon tube and is supplied straight, to be bent to your required angle in a vice.