Bill, I'm using Intellicad, the open source "Autocad clone" and it has 3D
capability.   I'm not familiar with the difference between this 3D
capability and "solid modeling" that you speak of.

I've done a simple RV-6 fuselage in 3D, with each bulkhead's corner
coordinates as shown on the Van's dwgs, from tail up to firewall.  I added
the tailwheel and then the main landing gear - which took a LOT of searching
and trying and careful "checklisting" of how to get an "auxiliary view" to
locate the landing gear.
    -  Definitely a big "learning curve" to climb up!

David Carter

----- Original Message -----
From: "BillDube@killacycle.com" <billdube@killacycle.com>
To: "Rotary motors in aircraft" <flyrotary@lancaironline.net>
Sent: Monday, April 11, 2005 2:18 AM
Subject: [FlyRotary] Re: CAD instruction ...


> At 10:58 PM 4/10/2005, you wrote:
> >All,
> >On somebody's recommendation I bought TurboCad last month.  I assumed
> >there would be some sort of tutorial or something.  Evidently not.  The
> >local Tech school has a course I could enroll in but they use AutoCad
> >(8).  Are the packages similar enough that I could learn the basics in
> >this course and proceed from there?
>
>          I think that enough folks on this list are interested in CAD
> generally that this is worth an on-line response.
>
>          There are "solid modeling" type CAD programs and 2-D type CAD
> programs. Unless you are doing wiring diagrams, PCB layout, or need to
work
> with legacy drawings, solid modeling is probably what you want for
aircraft
> design.
>
>          AutoDesk AutoCad is a 2-D program that has 3-D abilities.
AutoDesk
> Inventor is a solid modeling program and is complete departure from
> AutoCad. They have virtually nothing in common. (They have so little in
> common that AutoDesk provides a copy of Mechanical Desktop (top of the
line
> AutoCad) with each copy of Inventor so you can still do something with
your
> old drawings.)
>
>          I know AutoCAD very well and it was not any help when I moved
over
> to Inventor. It is that different.
>
>          Your main choices for solid modeling are SolidWorks, Inventor,
and
> ProEngineer. There are others, but they are less popular than these main
> three. If you are a student, you can get a very sweet deal on these. So
> much so that it you would save money by enrolling in your local community
> college just to get the discount on the software.
>
>          If you are comfortable with computers, it is likely that you will
> be able to learn to use one of the solid modeler programs from the
> tutorials that come with the program. It is faster to take a short course,
> however. It will take a several weeks of study to learn it on your own.
>
>          I should add that one of my favorite parts of Inventor is the
> "sheet metal" modeler. It is astounding. You tell it the type of metal and
> the thickness and it figures out exactly how it will stretch when it
bends.
> I have made really complicated sheet metal designs and they come out
> perfectly. You can even drill the holes before you bend the sheet and they
> will all line up. I just print out the unfolded sheet on the plotter,
stick
> it to the sheet with double-sided tape, then cut, drill, and bend on the
> dotted lines.
>
>          If you buy ANSYS DesignSpace, you have a direct link from the
> solid model that you draw in Inventor to the ANSYS finite element
analysis.
> Just click on the ANSYS icon in Inventor and your model is in ANSYS ready
> for structural, thermal, magnetic, or electrical analysis. You can even
add
> in computational fluid dynamics if you need that (for a price.)
>
>
>
>
>
> Bill Dube <LED@Killacycle.com>
> http://www.killacycle.com/Lights.htm
>
>
>
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