Paul, EAA announced at Oshkosh this year that a member benefit for EAA members is free use of Solid Works. It is a $4-$6000 3D AutoCAD Program (student version) that I just downloaded (with some twists and turns) and as one person at Oshkosh told me...it ain't that easy to use. I know AutoCAD so Solid Works is pretty easy to pick up, but without that background there might be a pretty steep learning curve. The demos they put on at Oshkosh were done by Solid Works geeks and they were truly 'shock and awe' to watch and the program does everything from quickly sketching out a 2D drawing.... to 3D drawings that you can hook up a 3D printer and make your parts ....to creating assemblies that will go into motion.... to conducting a stress analysis on a part..... to outputting a drawing package with a bill of materials (BOM)...but a friend of mine told me he has hired someone to do a project for him and he has studied Solid Works for 3 years at college and can run it like a you see computer geeks do on programs.....it is a tremendous benefit for EAA members if you need a drawing program but be prepared to do some homework or be frustrated. my 2 cents worth. Bernie Lusby MD KR2S builder in hibernation
------------------------------------------------------------------ I'll talked to Charlie Becker from EAA today. He is doing a forum Saturday afternoon at the gathering on how to register you home built. He asked me if I could check if anyone knows how to use Solid Works. His presentation that he's going to do at the Gathering is on that program. That software program is relatively new to him and he's not comfortable with using it yet. He was hoping someone would be there to rescue him if it crashed. Paul Visk Belleville Il. 618 406 4705
