Scratch building an LSA in East Texas

[Neal Brooks]

I am 46 year old programmer working on my private pilot certificate. I was sold on the LSA when I first saw it as I wanted to build a cub but wanted a full aluminum wing. I am sure I will be buying some completed parts later to get in the air quicker, but for now I am content to bang out wing ribs. I have enjoyed reading the posts in this forum, and I have spent hours watching some of the members' build videos on youtube.

Thank you all for sharing your experience.

Neal Brooks
Scratch building L130
Lufkin, Texas

[Chewie]

Welcome to the group Neal! Perhaps you will have your own YouTube hints soon. Out of curiosity, how did you come to the decision of a metal wing?
Mark

[Neal Brooks]

I was intimidated by the rigging within the cloth wings that I looked at in the past (diagonal struts and flimsy looking rib buildups). I am sure they are safe, but I just could not wrap my mind around the internals.
I do not believe cloth is inferior, I just believe I am biased against cloth wings due to the fact that most of the builders in my area have built RVs. If there were passionate tube and cloth builders around me I am sure I would already be building that WagAero sport trainer.
-Neal

[jaredyates]

When I asked Bob why he chose an aluminum wing over fabric, his answer (I'm paraphrasing) was that the aluminum would yield better performance by maintaining the airfoil shape all the time. Apparently the fabric moves around much more in flight, changing the shape. This is no big deal on the fuselage, but the airfoil shape is much more sensitive to changes. This is one of the many reasons that his LSA outperforms the other airplanes in its class so often I suspect.