: And, because of multiple orientation strength of the ply, one could
: use thinner ply than solid wood, thus saving weight.

: I think the best way to build SOF with solid wood is still probably
: traditional bent rib construction.

: Although ply fuselage construction can be built quite light, and
: still be quite strong. A friend was planning to see if he could
: build a working SOF with 1/8" ply, but never got around to
: it because he got into traditional bent rib construction.

: Brian

You can reasonably go to 3/8" ply and it'll work, going to thinner means the webs have to be much wider to compensate for the lack of strength so you don't gain anything. Actually with really good plywood you can probably make it lighter using 3/4" ply and going for very narrow webs.

It can certainly be done with regular wood built up frames, won't be any lighter though since you have doubling at the joints, conventional plywood construction (with frames, chines and stringers) was originally done with wood frames built up this way.

Bill H.