Aerospace help

So I want to design a homebuilt all metal aircraft, but I don't know where to start.

Any textbooks or software that can help? I know quite advanced metalworking, but I'm no engineer.

Other urls found in this thread:

eaa.org/en/eaa/aviation-communities-and-interests/homebuilt-aircraft-and-homebuilt-aircraft-kits/kits-and-plans
flyingmag.com/aircraft/experimental-aircraft-homebuilts/so-you-want-build-airplane
popularmechanics.com/flight/how-to/g631/4-amazing-diy-planes-and-how-to-build-your-own/
twitter.com/SFWRedditImages

There are organization devoted to this.
You can get plans -- or complete kits -- from them.
>eaa.org/en/eaa/aviation-communities-and-interests/homebuilt-aircraft-and-homebuilt-aircraft-kits/kits-and-plans

Do it yourself. You'll need a pilot's license and an airworthiness certificate from the FAA before test-hopping it.
And don't make the classic boat-builders error of making it in your basement with no way out. ^_^

Not plans, I want to build one ground up by myself.

flyingmag.com/aircraft/experimental-aircraft-homebuilts/so-you-want-build-airplane

Even if you don't follow someone else's plans, at least read about or talk with people who HAVE built planes. Trying to do it starting from zero without an engineering background would be suicidal -- IF you could get the FAA to let you try.

Read
popularmechanics.com/flight/how-to/g631/4-amazing-diy-planes-and-how-to-build-your-own/
FIRST bullet point: Software. You asked about that.
SECOND bullet point. A textbook.

Well you should learn about how propellers and wings work. Look for books on "momentum theory" and "airfoils".

how much money do you have?

I know that much and some

But I need to engineering tables for cutouts, rivet spacing, etc.

And a FED program

If it's a unique design you will probably have to make your own tables through experiment.

Scooby?

What's your educational background? This is a good way to end up kys if you're not really, really, really careful.

Nuclear engineering

>>homebuilt all metal aircraft
why would you do that in the age of cheap composites?

"Cheap" is a relative term
However they are cheaper than before.

Sandwiched composite honeycomb is so cook.

build a nazi ufo

I am unironically building a Nazi UFO. Their VTOL work was legit.

Aerospace engineer here. What do you mean by "from the ground up"? Because you're opening up a whole can of worms with that statement. Being good at metalworking isn't enough to engineer an airplane. Also, what's your figure of merit for your design? Aerobatics, speed, loiter?

For your wing shape, use Tornado, a matlab script, to run a vortex lattice simulation of your plane along with X-Foil to compute all your lift and viscous/induced drag forces. Then validate it with a CFD model and ideally a properly scaled model test. You're going to want to know why wings have washout, why control surfaces are where they are and how to size your wing and tail for an adequate static margin so you don't become unstable as you burn fuel.

Use a parametric modeling program like ANSYS or NX that you can run a FEA model with dynamic loading so you don't fatigue your aircraft.
Your powerplant should be sized according to your drag model and your new weights should feed back into wing and structure design to optimize your design.

You say you want your own design, but then you want engineering tables and rivet spacing... There is no shame in using an existing experimental design whatsoever, just use a plan that's been flown and don't kill yourself.

>run a vortex lattice simulation of your plane along with X-Foil to compute all your lift and viscous/induced drag forces
>vortex lattice simulation with X-Foil to compute viscous drag forces
>vortex lattice
>X-Foil
>viscous drag forces

user, I...

>muh inviscid models
Quit being pedantic, if you can't estimate your skin friction using the results from VLM and XFOIL you have no business designing a wing. Furthermore, Tornado gives you viscous drag estimates.

It's not the aerodynamics that's troubling me, it's the structural side of things.

I don't know how to size the spars, stringers, or ribs of wings. I don't know the sizing of fuselage longerons either. I need to know how to structural analysis of the plane.

AC43.13 has a bunch of information on airframe and powerplant maintenance.

It's an advisory circular, full of stuff you'd need to know.

Use AC 43.13