NetHeads, I was downloading the latest version of Airplane PDQ last night and noticed that they also sell a CD of some "experimental design technical documents" for 45 bucks. They have a web page that shows what's included, and I'm pretty sure that every bit of that stuff is available for free on the web. It's a nice list of some of the "biggies" aircraft design and construction, but they also point the way to many other documents on even more obscure stuff that designer/builders are always looking for. If you go to
https://www.davincitechnologies.com/ADDLv1.htm?PHPSESSID=bd331bcba64c4bb9959 c5a26a21af745 (make sure you cut and paste EVERYTHING above into ONE line of your browser) and then cut out one of the things you're interested in, such as NACA Report 354, and paste it into Google's "exact phrase" box at http://www.google.com/advanced_search?hl=en , you'll get a list of where this report lives on the web. About the third one down is NASA's site, and the thing is published to the web, waiting for you do download it. This particular one, Aircraft Wood Properties, at http://naca.larc.nasa.gov/reports/1931/naca-report-354/ , answers just about every question a guy could have about wood for aircraft use. The CD is probably worth $45 because it has way more documents than are listed, and puts them all in one nice little bundle for you. And it focuses on the ones that are most important to designer/builders. But the page of links reminded me just how much stuff is out there, and how easy it is to access. I'm not saying "don't ask dumb questions here", but if want to educate yourself, and become an expert YOURSELF, rather than accepting heresay as gospel, the stuff is out there, and easy pickins for those who want to get to the root of the technical information that separates the designers from the wannabees. Rather than being a poor helpless builder with lots of questions, go to the source, you could become an expert, and ANSWER the questions instead... Mark Langford, Huntsville, AL N56ML at hiwaay.net see KR2S project N56ML at http://home.hiwaay.net/~langford
