Othman
Well-Known Member
If you're designing your own aircraft, then you probably have an aircraft spruce catalog (or similar) to look up available/common materials, dimensions, and costs.
While doing this, I noticed that there is little consistancy with material pricing (reference Aircraft Spruce and Wick's Aircraft catalogs) . I expected that costs for raw material would varry somewhat linearly with size. In some cases I found this to be true, in others I found really non-linear price scales or "willy nilly" price scales.
It appears that commonly used sizes are priced higher than others (supply and demand). You can realize some serious cost saving if you are careful to design your structure with this in mind. Sometimes going one-size-up can reduce your costs (contrary to intuition) with a small weight penalty.
Thought I'd share that with you all. Perhaps some of you have some other tips.
While doing this, I noticed that there is little consistancy with material pricing (reference Aircraft Spruce and Wick's Aircraft catalogs) . I expected that costs for raw material would varry somewhat linearly with size. In some cases I found this to be true, in others I found really non-linear price scales or "willy nilly" price scales.
It appears that commonly used sizes are priced higher than others (supply and demand). You can realize some serious cost saving if you are careful to design your structure with this in mind. Sometimes going one-size-up can reduce your costs (contrary to intuition) with a small weight penalty.
Thought I'd share that with you all. Perhaps some of you have some other tips.
