April 19, 2026: Evening Why the Canyon Lightning™ tail is a game-changer. I've been in the shop since sunrise, and the progress is real: The fuselage is officially one piece, the fin and rudder are gusseted, and two more wing ribs are off the jig. 🛠⚡ Take a look at the taper on this rudder. Most ultralights use a flat plate tail made of round aluminum tubes. It's easy to build, but it's an aerodynamic drag trap. The Canyon Lightning™ difference : Instead of a flat pipe, I'm

What a satisfying feeling popping perfect ribs out of the jig every time. Each rib weighs a mere 3oz after both sides are gusseted. These ribs are for my Canyon series ultralights, the Canyon Lightning™ and the Carbon Canyon™

April 19, 2026: Evening I've decided to drop the "Afforda" name entirely. I don't want this new-age, high-performance design to be associated with the heavy, rickety engineering of the 1990s. The Canyon Lightning™ is in a class of its own: ✅ Stiffer : Carbon-wrapped wood truss vs. floppy aluminum tubes ✅ Lighter : I'm hitting Part 103 weight limits with room to spare for big tires and extra fuel. ✅ Better : 1:1 full-size templates and modern CAD precision Progress update

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

By Jake | Ultralight Plans™ | Salty West Desert, Utah When I started this project, I called it the "Afforda-Wood." The goal was simple: take a proven, minimalist profile and fix the problems that have plagued it for 30 years—weight, cost, and vague instructions. But as the build progressed and the math started to prove itself, it became clear: this isn't just a "wood version" of an old plane. This is the Canyon Lightning™. I decided to rebrand to distance this design from the