CAD programs

[Captain Bob]

Listers...I have been a long time reader of the group and as a
grounded old comm/cfi I have been a fan of the Titan and Thundergull
line of "sport aircraft". A local pilot in nearby Lompoc, California
impressed me with the Titan and my proximity to the Santa Margarita
factory of Thundergull has allowed me to see a few good examples of
both aircraft. An old friend often allows me to borrow his two seat
Challanger, but beating up the sky at 70mph in front of a two stroke
engine gets a little old after an hour or so.


The upcoming sport pilot cert and class of aircraft will open the
world of aviation again to thousands of "grounded" pilots like
myself. One of the drawbacks of both the Titan, and to a lesser
extent the Thundergull is the completely cramped cockpit
environment. It is my belief that using existing technologies
within the "extreme" sport community and good old fashioned
aerodynamics an outstanding machine can be designed complying and
flying up to the limits of the proposed new reg.

The new class of "sport aircraft" will be more like Harley's of the
sky than spam cans. Of course my 25 years of flying experience only
prepared me to know what features allow a plane to fly well within a
mission profile. I cannot however find a way to easily design what
in my mind's eye will work within the mission profile of the sport
plane that I would like to fly.

Herein is my question for you more experienced in these design
queries: I have been searching the net for cad/cam design programs
that will allow someone with average computer, mechanical, and
design skills to design a sport type aircraft. I have found a
couple with "modules" for this type in the $600 range...most
references are for really big cad/cam programs in the thousands of
dollars.

I thank all of you for the past writings having been a lurker for
such a long time.

Regards,
Bob Perry
Buellton, CA

[derbaier]

Buellton!?! Wow, you are just a hop skip and a jump from Santa
Margaritia! Have you thought of asking Mark what design software he
uses? I don't know anything about aircraft design software, but I
hope that you find what you are looking for.

--Dave

[Captain Bob]

I've been up to Mark's ranch in Santa Margarita and have flown his
Odyessy with him...I did in fact like the way it flew and made a
post to this group several years ago regading the flight. I'm not
interested in duplicating the efforts of Mark or the Titan folks.
Bob