Weight reduction holes in aluminum tubing

Kansasman

I want to reduce the weight of a square aluminum tube, 36 inches long, 1 inch square, and 1/16 inch thick, while maintaining as much strength as possible. The tube will be used at the body of a radio-controlled airplane. Where should the holes be (what part of the tube), how big, and what spacing? Thanks in advance.

Mech_Engineer

I would first of all recommend replacing the aluminum tube with a graphite spar, which would be much lighter and at the same time stronger. With that being said, you could try removing some material from the middle of the "sides" of the aluminum beam where the bending stresses would be the least, but I wouldn't drill holes bigger than .5" in it, and no holes in the top or bottom.