On Wed, 23 Jan 2008 14:48:28 -0800 (PST), Oliver Arend
wrote:

The first question is really simple: Are there any free plans for
homebuilt aircraft on the web? It should have an engine and be able to
carry a person, apart from that I'm just interested in seeing what's
out there, if any...

Texas Parasol, courtesy of our own Richard Lamb:

http://www.matronics.com/photoshare/...et.03.04.2006/

The second question/idea is a bit far out: Are there any "open source"
projects? It's obviously extremely difficult to exchange parts of
airplanes across the web, but people could develop something together
and everyone builds his or her own plane from the plans that come out
of this (and even those not building could bring in their expertise).
I know this is not computer software (even for a model airplane it
could work well), but has something like this been undertaken? Is it
feasible?

One of the RAH folks was part of a group of 13 people who built fourteen
examples of a given plans-built design at the same time. There were people who
were designated decision-makers, but everyone still tried to go their own way
and make changes, "improve" portions, and generally go against the rest of the
group. The fall of Saigon sounds like it had been quieter.

Couldn't imagine trying to actually *design* an airplane in such an environment.
You'll end up with folks pushing their own versions, with no knowledge of their
qualifications to do the design or even whether they've tried it themselves.
For a small airplane, for good or for bad, you need *one* designer. If you
don't like the way he does it, you're free to change it, but you don't get the
opportunity to push your version in front of his. Compared to a software
product, an airplane is a very long-term affair. Bad decisions early can lead
to death years later.

Ron Wanttaja