Rhinoplasty - Big Bird electric returned to the pure sailplane form

I decided to change my Skybench Aerotech from an electric powered glider back to a "pure" sailplane.

Here's the nose section receiving a nose job.

Here's the nose starting to be restored to the pure glider shape.

Blocks ready for final shaping and sanding.

Now, that really looks better. Don't you agree?

Rats! I had to hog out the nose block to install the lead weight for a rough pre-balance.

It was kind of like carving a Halloween pumpkin by slicing off the top and scooping out the balsa with a Dremel.

You can see how carefully the balsa was cut and reglued.

Now we have the Hitec servos, Optima 6 receiver and the LiFe battery pack for more pre-balancing.

Here's the final form after all the work. It's heavy but it balances and I like the look. Big Bird 100 designed by the late Ray Hayes.