• 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!

composite wing construction

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

slociviccoupe

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 1, 2011
Messages
384
Location
Palm Bay Fl.
Hello, Looking at building my own first airplane. Have built planes for others while employed at steen aero lab but this one will be for me. Really wanting to build something that qualifies in the ultralight category. something like the sd-1 minisport. Or would really like to find a canard pusher that will qualify in ultralight.

but my questions is can a plane that has a solid foam core wing with a composite material bonded to it be built differently to conserve weight and be just as strong.

my idea was to take say a cozy, vari eze, or a long ez foam wing core that has been cnc cut. slice it and make ribs out of the core instead of a solid foam core. then would bond carbon to the sides of the foam ribs. the foam ribs would have lightening holes cut in them to reduce weight. Ribs would be slid and bonded to a carbon fiber tube spar. then a carbon skin that was made from the negative of the foam from the wing core would be bonded to the upper and lower sides of the wing. seems most ultralight aircraft wings are made this way with the exception of the composites. mainly made with wood and foam. I live in fl and have seen what humidity does to wood planes, even wood coated in epoxy grows mold down here inside of wings.

essentially im wanting to make a side by side 2 place ultralight canard. but willing to build a sd-1 minisport but with more composite techniques if i can't find a way to build an ultralight legal canard. I have the help of trinity composites who makes carbon jet ski hulls and some aircraft parts for the laying up of the composite parts.

reading this it seems i am uncertain on what i want to build. i really like the look of the canards. just visually apealing. but also like the way the sd-1 minisport is. with its low hp needed to fly. my problem is with both planes i want a second seat. flying isn't much fun without someone else. Im wanting to aim for ultralight certification because i do not have a private pilots license as of yet. hope to accomplish this while building the plane. shooting to build an ultralight but if it comes in a lil heavy and is a light sport aircraft i won't mind either as ill be getting pilots license anyways.


any help is appreciated. just looking for info on different composite construction techniques.
 
Back
Top