Here’s yet another example of the versatility of paulownia. Peter Parvin is building this Roger Hill 179 design, using paulownia planking.

Bruce Pickering uses paulownia to build radio-controlled model planes. The fuselage and tail of the De Havilland Beaver (top two images) are made of paulownia. The wings are glass fibre over polystyrene foam. The model has a 3-metre wingspan, and is powered by a 45cc petrol motor.

The second model is a Lockheed Sirius and has a wingspan of 2.5 metres. It is powered by a 35cc petrol motor. The entire model is covered with paulownia machined to 1.5mm thick.

Last term, teacher Tom Peyton bought a pile of paulownia offcuts and used them to make CO2 Dragsters with his students as part of their Hard Materials classes. Check out the finished racers in the video below.