thseng

If it is possible at all, Onshape is probably the CAD tool to use. Many people can work on the same project (or even the same part) simultaneously. Unless you want to fork over $1500 a year for a pro account, all free account projects are publicly viewable (and in the public domain, last I read the fine print). Accuracy and what to do when the plans are not clear is a problem. You have to model something, and then that guess becomes gospel. What about purchased parts or parts made from templates that are not fully dimensioned? As a side note, as a mechanical engineer, I'm frustrated by the format of the aircraft plans that I've studied so far. Show me a fully dimensioned drawing of the finished part! It's like the difference between step-by-step driving instructions and a map showing where the destination is located. The directions will get you there, but you won't know where you are.

Something like this? Spar cap only shown.

As a father of nine, I can tell you that having time for each other is exactly where they came from!

I was about to post about Leonard's work also. I don't know if this is why we put his own carburetors on, but the Vanguard engine looks to have electronic fuel injection from the factory. While great from a carb ice and mixture control point of view, there would be some reliability concern. I downloaded the service manual and while very thorough, the entire thing is about troubleshooting error codes from the ECU - nothing mechanical at all...

Nice looking (to my untrained eye) Cozy III: Walkaround video: https://youtu.be/gtiLv-BTzSw

I read through the prop building thread you linked - Very interesting! One question: How did you come up with the planform? Any science to it or is it pure TLAR (that looks about right)? By the way, have you seen the Culver Props videos? https://www.youtube.com/c/CulverProps/videos?view=0&sort=da&flow=grid They have a neat "lathe" duplicator setup that uses a circular saw blade. Very old-school. I can think of a lot of ways to automate the layout and the actual carving. CNC is so easy these days.

Thanks for the kind offer, email on the way.

Howdy, I can't honestly say I'm too serious, so I won't waste your time asking to come see it. Although it is starting to tempt me. If you could ever use an extra set of hands for some grunt work on one of you projects (lifting, sanding, sweeping floors...) I'd love to help out in exchange for a close look at it.

Jon, Where is this currently located? I'm in Warren County, NJ

Stumbled across this apparently defunct German company using one on an ultralight: https://web.archive.org/web/20160328224720/http://www.trio-star.de/cms/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=73&Itemid=81&lang=de

The best thing about Rutan's method is that anyone can hand-craft an airplane in his garage with simple tools. The worst thing about it is that you have to hand craft the airplane with simple tools in your garage. I wonder if there might be a middle ground. Random example: fully pre-shaped foam fuselage parts that self-fixture together prior to glassing.

Thanks, this seems to be the mother-of-all-threads on this topic: https://modwiggler.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=180347 I like how they used a copper pour pattern to create texture on this one: https://modwiggler.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=3226334#p3226334 It also has bare sections for LED indicators to shine through.

Nice. That gives me a further idea. The PCB material is sorta translucent... It would take some experimentation but perhaps you could backlight the text by creating openings in the black solder mask corresponding to the text. I don't know if the white silk screen print is opaque or not. The registration with the solder mask might be hit or miss, since this is not the intended application.