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...

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?

Oliver

oliver your innocence has hidden something important from you.
the paper drawing is merely an implementation of a design.
what you must have and understand for designs that you build from
anonymous sources is the design calculations. these match the material
strengths and the structural layout to the predicted flight loads.
without these you have no idea what you are building.

if you are interested in a design then ask whether there were design
calculations. if there arent you need to develop the understanding
needed to do reverse engineering calcs for your self.

Stealth Pilot