Balsa Wood or Foam build ?

Hello all ,
I am new to this forum but have been involved in various aspects of modeling since a young age ( on and off for many years ) . I find I have quite a bit of time on my hands now and have been looking into building a smaller ( around 38" wingspan ) Stearman PT-17 with a view to converting it to RC . I have been viewing both the Balsa wood structure models and the foam construction models but dont really know or understand the strength and aerodynamic differences between the two and am hoping someone on this forum can give some advice . Also regarding the balsa wood construction models which are covered with the relevant paper and dope to give some strength , are there other materials available that gives a much robust / stronger construction ?
thanks

bigeard
You will find nearly as many opinions as there are alternatives but here goes my two penny'oth.
Dope and tissue covering is still available but is considered rather flimsy for RC planes except the very lightest usually where the RC is considered an 'assist' to what is a free flight design.
Special plastic film is the favoured covering frequently with an iron on adhesive. The film also has heat shrinking properties. Stronger than dope and tissue, less liable to tear and completely water proof.
If the structure is fully wood sheet covered it is common to cover it with a light glass fibre cloth and resin or varnish to give considerable extra strength.

Foam building is a very wide subject as there are many different ways of using it. Its big advantage is it is much lighter but weaker than any wood so it normally has to be used with additional reinforcing to give the required stiffness.
Very popular in the Ready To Fly category as foam can be industrially moulded in one piece to the final required shape and simply reinforced with a carbon fibre tube spar.
Many builders cut foam to the required shape using hot wire cutters and then cover it with various materials.
It is possible to 'build' using thin foam sheet in a similar manner to wood but doing so is just as involved and time consuming but the result can be significantly lighter.
Care is needed as most foams are attacked by many of the common paints and glues so special versions are required that are 'foam safe'.

You will also need to consider how you RC plane is to be powered electric or internal combustion (glow or petrol). Each have their followers but at the small sizes the convenience and much reduced noise levels of electric can be significant.

I am sure others will advise that unless you have some experience of RC flying you would be well advised to separate the building from learning to fly. Learning to fly is best done at a RC model club with 'instructor tuition' in a plane designed to learn to fly on. Learning to fly on you own build 'pride and joy' is likely to lead to considerable disappointment. There is nothing stopping you building a plane just don't fly it until you and preferably an instructor know what you are doing.

There is a lot of friendly expertise on this forum, I hate to think what the average age is.
Remember the only stupid question is the one you don't ask!