April 19, 2026: Morning The production line is moving! I've got the first batch of wing ribs out of the jig, and the numbers are exactly where I want them. 📏 The Stats : These are 48-inch chord stick-and-gusset 1/4" Douglas Fir ribs. Despite the size, they are coming in at a featherweight 3.0 ounces each. They are built directly in my jig (which I plan to sell alongside the plans) to ensure a "zero-tolerance" fit for that sleek, low-drag airfoil. The plans show a 1:1 templat

April 18, 2026: Evening The rear fuse is drying, so I'm jumping straight into the safety cage -- the front fuselage. Another milestone for today: 1️⃣Cut and planed the main 1"x2" Douglas Fir sticks 2️⃣Laid them out directly onto my 1:1 full size plans 3️⃣Precision-cut the birch ply gussets Tonight the glue-fest continues as I epoxy the first side-frame. By morning the cabin of the Canyon Lightning™ will be a reality! The 1"x2" logic : While the tail is 1" for weight, the c

April 18, 2026: Afternoon The response to this build is explosive - thanks for following along! I'm in the shop today moving at Carbon Canyon™ speed! The Progress : Yesterday I gusseted the first side of the rear fuselage truss directly over my 1:1 scale plans using T-88 structural epoxy. It's rock solid and perfectly straight. Today's mission : The core of the strength. Before the second side gets gussets, I'm prepping the internal "shear web". I've custom-cut foam triangles

April 18, 2026: Morning Ever wonder how F1 teams or Skunkworks projects get that perfect, integrated fit? They don't buy off-the-shelf, they mold the plane to the pilot. I'm building the Canyon Lightning™ for 5-hour desert cross-countries, which means the seat has to be perfect. Here's the high-speed, low-cost breakdown: 🛠 The Build : I used a simple cardboard and foam frame, lined it with garbage bags, and poured in less than a gallon of 2-part expanding foam. Then I simply

April 17, 2026: Evening Why I'm Redesigning the Classics (And how to build an airframe for <$1800) Stop struggling with blurry, out-of-scale 11x17 photocopies. I'm tired of the "aviation tax" and vague plans, so I'm launching Ultralight Plans™. I'm currently mid-build and nearly finished with the plans on the "Canyon Lightning" (I was previously calling it the Afforda-Wood, but changed the name to something cooler), a high-tech, hybrid evolution of the classic A-plane. By tra