• Welcome aboard HomebuiltAirplanes.com, your destination for connecting with a thriving community of more than 10,000 active members, all passionate about home-built aviation. Dive into our comprehensive repository of knowledge, exchange technical insights, arrange get-togethers, and trade aircrafts/parts with like-minded enthusiasts. Unearth a wide-ranging collection of general and kit plane aviation subjects, enriched with engaging imagery, in-depth technical manuals, and rare archives.

    For a nominal fee of $99.99/year or $12.99/month, you can immerse yourself in this dynamic community and unparalleled treasure-trove of aviation knowledge.

    Embark on your journey now!

    Click Here to Become a Premium Member and Experience Homebuilt Airplanes to the Fullest!

Stressed-skin plywood construction without lumber?

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

cluttonfred

Well-Known Member
Supporting Member
Joined
Feb 13, 2010
Messages
10,723
Location
World traveler
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
 
Back
Top