The goal
Four aircraft built over about seven years, from a scratch-cut kit-less balsa build to a modular carbon airframe. Some had a clear engineering goal; some I built because I wanted to know whether I could.
Extra 330 — building a kit without the kit
A 1960s-era balsa aerobatic design, built from plans with no kit available. I cut every part out myself, which meant the plan sheet was the only source of truth and there was no second chance on a mis-cut spar.
Two problems beyond the cutting. The plans were drawn for a gas engine, so I had to work out the electric conversion — different weight, different mounting, different balance. And the original 3D printed parts did not exist for a design this old, so I made them.
It finished at roughly 11 lbs with a 6 ft wingspan. The hardest part was not construction; it was finding reliable information on a model old enough that almost nobody documents it anymore.
The Reaper — modular cargo and camera airframe
Designed as a heavy-lift, long-range platform that could carry a camera and be reconfigured for different missions.
Roughly 7 ft of wingspan, built mostly from carbon fiber and balsa. It has a 2 ft cargo bay forward, an inverted V-tail chosen for landing clearance, and a pusher propeller to keep the nose clear for a camera.
It flies very stably. The cargo release mechanism is still unbuilt — the airframe is finished and the payload system is the open item.
Weather-balloon glider
The idea: instead of chasing a weather balloon across a county to recover its data, put a glider on it. The balloon carries it up, the glider releases and flies itself back to a known base.
This was my first real from-scratch design and it taught me the lesson the hard way. I built the wing spars from wooden dowels instead of carbon fiber, and the airframe came out too heavy for the wing area to carry as a glider. The concept was sound; the structure was not.
I intend to build it again on a light carbon airframe closer to what I am designing now. Knowing what a carbon spar does to the weight budget is precisely what the first attempt was missing.
Fieselier Storch — 1/6 scale STOL
A kit build of the German Storch, which I outfitted with adjustable leading-edge slats like the full-scale aircraft. It flew well. I sold it to make room for the next build.
