On Wed, 13 Jul 2005 23:30:13 GMT, "Stewart Glenn"
wrote:

I'm looking to start a home built aircraft. Does anyone have any suggestions on which type of lumber to use that's a good alternative for sitka spruce?

Thanks

I fly an all-wood airplane, so I've become educated on it somewhat.
The most often mention replacement for aircraft quality spruce is
Douglas Fir. But I've not found any of the aircraft wood suppliers
that sell it. They all have spruce. The Hughes HK-1 was made from
Douglas Fir, not spruce, even though it has always been called the
Spruce Goose. Even if the aircraft suppliers carried Douglas Fir, it
would probably be priced close to spruce. It's 23% heavier, but is
stronger. So after you reduce it's size the weight penalty is only
around 6%. When I grew up in Miami, several of the local builders
used to go to a local lumber yard and select aircraft quality pieces
of Spruce, and used it in their Pitts Special projects. So if you
trust your ability to choose wood of aircraft quality, you should be
able to obtain it locally. The builders I knew were in Homestead, and
built their projects with an occasional visit from Curtiss Pitts. Whom
I'm sure would have pointed out sub-aircraft quality wood if he saw it
in their projects. You might find someone at the local lumber yard
that could select aircraft quality pieces of wood for you.