Not really....
I was just thriough an interesting series of events that got me to this post.
I was out riding my little Yamaha scooter, thinking about all my various building options and I came over a hill, and ther it was.
There were two guys getting ready to take off in a Diamond Star, all composite, homebuilt aircraft. I was thinking about that, and the other planes I have worked on over the years and realized there are several building mediums we don't use that would be perfectly acceptable.
Fiberglass over foam- Carve and sand a tank, cover with glass, acetone the foam out- instant easy to build tanks! Well, pretty easy and unlimited possibilities.
Aluminum tube and pop rivets- Many safe flyable ultralights are built this way. Relatively cheap (Pilot Supplies, Avionics, and Homebuilt Aircraft Parts from Aircraft Spruce and Specialty Co.) and easy once a few rules are learned.
Wood- YEAH baby! Ply, clear white pine, spruce, fir- all available locally and cheap. Make a mistake? Big deal, use it on something smaller. Light, strong, unusual. Try it, you'll like it. Most have some woodworking tools.
Get that brain working and imaginate on the possibilities.
I was just thriough an interesting series of events that got me to this post.
I was out riding my little Yamaha scooter, thinking about all my various building options and I came over a hill, and ther it was.
There were two guys getting ready to take off in a Diamond Star, all composite, homebuilt aircraft. I was thinking about that, and the other planes I have worked on over the years and realized there are several building mediums we don't use that would be perfectly acceptable.
Fiberglass over foam- Carve and sand a tank, cover with glass, acetone the foam out- instant easy to build tanks! Well, pretty easy and unlimited possibilities.
Aluminum tube and pop rivets- Many safe flyable ultralights are built this way. Relatively cheap (Pilot Supplies, Avionics, and Homebuilt Aircraft Parts from Aircraft Spruce and Specialty Co.) and easy once a few rules are learned.
Wood- YEAH baby! Ply, clear white pine, spruce, fir- all available locally and cheap. Make a mistake? Big deal, use it on something smaller. Light, strong, unusual. Try it, you'll like it. Most have some woodworking tools.
Get that brain working and imaginate on the possibilities.
