Solidworks for EAA Members

[mswain]

Not sure if this is new or I am just late to the bus-stop, but if you're an EAA member then you get personal use access to Solidworks, which from what I can gather runs about 4K for the professional version plus another $1200/year in subscription fees. Seems like a nice benefit if you want to play around with 3D modeling.

http://www.eaa.org/en/eaa/eaa-membership/eaa-member-benefits/solidworks-resource-center

[Chris In Milwaukee]

I downloaded and installed it a couple of days ago. Alas, work has been busy enough that I haven't even started it up for the first time! Looking forward to giving it a go, though. A great benefit!

[whee]

That is awesome. I really liked using Solidworks back when I did that type of work. I know I should be a member of EAA already but that right there pushed me over the edge.

[slscott715]

I was just logging in to post about this very subject! I've been burning up the tutorials for a few days now. It's loads of fun and a great resource for homebuilders.

[sbmurphey]

Thanks for sharing....Downloading now

[Chris In Milwaukee]

The "What's New in SolidWorks 2016" document is 237 pages itself! This will be fun...

[mswain]

LOL. I see a steep learning curve ahead.

[S Lathrop]

If I read the EAA web site correctly, this is the SolidWorks Student version. I have used several versions of SolidWorks Student and found them very good products. I did do a drawing of the BearHawk 4 place fuselage, as a Weldment, using the student version at that time. You can do motion and stress analysis with the student versions.

Practically every part I have made for my project, I have drawn that part in SolidWorks or AutoCAD prior to cutting metal. I found that this really helped me figure out how to make the part in question.

There is a companion program called DraftSight which is a 2D drafting program very similar to AutoCAD, and is a free down load from makers of SolidWorks. http://www.solidworks.com/sw/product...-downloads.htm

[mswain]

Maybe you could do a webinar for us rookies . Show us how it's done.

[Chris In Milwaukee]

Just ran across a tutorial series on YouTube. 99 in a row! Made it through 20, but now need breakfast.