wood species question

On Wed, 13 Jul 2005 23:12:24 -0700, Richard Riley
wrote:

On Wed, 13 Jul 2005 23:24:25 -0400, Joe Camp wrote:

:On Wed, 13 Jul 2005 23:30:13 GMT, "Stewart Glenn"
wrote:
:
:The Hughes HK-1 was made from
ouglas Fir, not spruce, even though it has always been called the
:Spruce Goose.

There's some spruce in the HK-1, along with some maple, poplar and
even balsa. But most of it is birch.
http://www.sprucegoose.org/aircraft_...Years/HK-1.htm

Interesting, I have only encountered birch in plywood. I hadn't heard
of using it in aircraft in it's pure form. But with all the different
woods used in the HK-1, it does show the different options for wood
use in aircraft. But for the homebuilder, obtaining aircraft quality
pieces is the challenge. It's so much easier to just buy aircraft
quality spruce from an aircraft wood supplier. In the USA, it seems
Aircraft Spruce and Wicks are the main suppliers. But Canada has some
aircraft wood suppliers also, and they may have more variety.

"Joe Camp" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 13 Jul 2005 23:12:24 -0700, Richard Riley

Interesting, I have only encountered birch in plywood. I hadn't heard
of using it in aircraft in it's pure form.

Most of it *is* plywood, not sticks of wood.

It is a stressed skin design, with the plywood cold molded into the complex
curves. The bulkheads are also cut from plywood.

The floor was end grain balsa, then covered with plywood. Modern airliners
used balsa covered with aluminum, not long ago.
--
Jim in NC