Airfoil built using Styrofoam

If you don't have foamboard available and only have styrofoam ( also known as Polystyrene,Packaging foam,thermacol or white foam), and you want to build a wing with airfoil without hot wire cutting, then this article will help you.

Styrofoam is very light weight, but doesn't fold or bend. The only way to make airfoil from styrofoam is either hot wire cutting or KFM airfoils.

 But..I have come up with a simple solution to bend the styrofoam with just packing tape or cello tape to make an airfoil.

I have used a 6 mm thick, 30x20 inches styrofoam sheet.  

So I have marked the 5 inches mark for the wing chord.

Next I am marking the bottom and top surface of the wing.

Next 1/2 inch of leading edge fold is marked.

Then 2 cm from trailing part of bottom surface is marked. As the top surface will have curve, this bottom surface must have taper or slope to accept the curve. 

So I used sanding block to sand this 2 cm wide taper. Leaving at least 3 mm thickness at the edge. Similarly , the top surface will have same 1 inch wide double or taper. Because the top surface extends back to make control surface. This tapered part will be control surface.

Then inner side of wing is all covered with cello tape or clear packing tape. Note the direction in which the tape is applied. Its important.

Use ruler or an object which has edge to smooth out the wrinkles.

Then covered the outer side with Colored packing tape. Make sure there are no wrinkles.

So the inner side and outer side covered with tape.Then I am cutting two foam strips for giving the thickness to airfoil. Here I used 1.8 cm thickness by adding two, on top of each other.

 Then, main part of wing. Bending or folding  the leading edge. Placed a straight edge on the leading edge line. First slowly bent, and when I was sure it will not crack, bent it all the way.Making sure that the leading edge is smooth and sharp.

Then drawing a line 1 inch back from the leading edge line of the bottom surface. This is where the foam strip is glued in place.

Then sticking the upper surface to this foam strip.

Now the upper and lower surface are attached to the strip.

Now its time to glue the upper surface and lower surface together at the tapered part. 

This is how it looks from the side. Then taping the trailing edge with colored tape.

And that's it..Lovely airfoil shape wing ready.. I will use this wing in my next scratch build.

Happy Flying...