The recent talk of Sitka spruce availability has me thinking of alternatives to aircraft lumber. The various high-temperature, high-pressure plywood composites developed during WWII to save on strategic materials (Duramold, etc.) are not exactly practical for the homebuilder today, but I wonder if we should take another look at plywood construction with little or no lumber?
I have in mind the CNC tab-and-slot construction promoted by FritzW and others but in a stressed-skin application using sustainably-sourced Finnish birch aircraft plywood. For example, I could see a hollow plywood box filling the roles of front spar, rear spar, and ribs between spars compared to a traditional stick-built wing, with false nose ribs and full-span ailerons and flaps (or flaperons) completing the airfoil profile.
Anyone know of any attempts to build an all-plywood aircraft (at least the wing) with little or no lumber?
Cheers,
Matthew
I have in mind the CNC tab-and-slot construction promoted by FritzW and others but in a stressed-skin application using sustainably-sourced Finnish birch aircraft plywood. For example, I could see a hollow plywood box filling the roles of front spar, rear spar, and ribs between spars compared to a traditional stick-built wing, with false nose ribs and full-span ailerons and flaps (or flaperons) completing the airfoil profile.
Anyone know of any attempts to build an all-plywood aircraft (at least the wing) with little or no lumber?
Cheers,
Matthew