Thnx Guys So it can be safely done. The woods of choice around here (for quality and availability) are mahogany and baltic birch ply. I have used over 200 sheets of the ply in 1/8-3/4 for commercial scrollsaw work, and have never found a void or split. Top quality, and even semi-waterproof (it passed a 48 hr boil but failed a 72 hr--- but i dont think i'll ever wanna boil my airplane ;-) ) Fir, spruce, pine ect tends to get snapped up long before it hits the lumberyard, so whats there is really the "seconds of the 1sts" if you know what i mean. Mahog, being about twice as much (about $5 a bd/ft) doesnt get picked through quite as much. Ash, oak, polpar and maple are also readily available in very high quality. I was thinking (dreaming?? ;-) along the lines of 3/4 ash longerons and trussing from the seatback foreward, poplar trussing back. Spars of 3/4 mahog with 1/8 birch ply laminated to each side (west system or some other "super" glue) -just reduce the center rib section by 1/2" to accomodate the extra thickness- and mahog capstips ( a fellow sky scout builder used this and tested at about 105% of pure spruce, but at 1/4 the cost). it would take a bit of fiddling with the fittings, but not really a redesign. Mahog and poplar for the laminated parts and capstrips. Oak for all the hardwood blocks (because I have about 50 bd ft of shorts on hand) and 1/4" maple for the gear legs. It would add a bit of weight, but the I have weighed 175# for the last 15 years and dad has been 180 for the last 60 (yeh, we are all beanpoles) and likely to stay that way, and 99.9% of my flying is within 50 miles (full tanks not really needed) so would still come in at or under gross. If needed, elctrics can go the way of the dinosaur (it would be registered basic ultralight which means no night flying in canada, and a handheld can be run from a small solar panel). Been a while since I hand proped but oh, well. Mike -----Original Message----- From: N95MF@aol.com <N95MF@aol.com> To: FlyBaby@listbot.com <FlyBaby@listbot.com> Date: Tuesday, November 16, 1999 1:54 PM Subject: Re: New list member >FlyBaby > >As far as wood choices, the FAA gives various woods the OK for certified >birds if they conform to the MIL spec. In one of the FAA publications, it >gives the specs. I used certified Sitka spruce for my wing spars, and >locally bought Douglas Fir for most of the rest. I ripped it to size. I got >to prefer the European plywood over the US plywood the more I worked with it. > Mark Goldberg Austin TX > > >