"Leon McAtee" wrote in message
om...

I'm not trying to be argumentative and have no desire to ignite any
flame here. I do like to occasionally challenge the accepted
traditions to see if there might be a "better" way of doing things.
Even if there isn't a better way I, and maybe some others, will get a
better understanding of just why "we do it that way".

Understand where you are coming from, Leon. It seems that you are walking
awfully close to the line between "builder" and "designer" - one which I
avoid like STD's. )

The pitfalls of changing a design are many and legendary. One thing seems to
lead to another and it is my opinion that it takes an aeronautical design
engineer who is specifically trained in the field of homebuilt light
aircraft to fully comprehend and integrate changes to proven designs. You
say, "it's only 20 pounds"; but that may have far-reaching effects which are
not evident to a builder.

That being said, I would think that a change from 4130 steel to 2024
Aluminum would have many more advantages than from 4130 --- 1026. I was
given the option on the plans for my airplane to use either 1/4" 4130 or
3/8" 2024 Al for the wing joining plates. The 2024 was stronger and lighter,
so I chose to use aluminum. The difference here was that it was written
right there in the plans. I would not have elected to do this myself.

From what I've heard, the builder of John Denver's Long Eze had a better
idea for the location of the fuel selector valve. . .

Regards,
Rich S.