Post 19: Hard-Point Engineering
April 25, 2026
When you're 50 miles into the desert, your tailwheel is your best friend -- or your worst enemy. Many "budget" builds fail because of vibration "ovaling" out the bolt holes in the aluminum or wood.
Not on the Canyon Lightning™.
Today's video is a deep dive into the "nervous system" of the tail. I'm using a process called "structural potting". Instead of just bolting through Douglas Fir and aircraft ply, I'm
1. Drilling oversized holes.
2. Filling them with a high-strength slurry of T88 structural epoxy and carbon fiber shreds.
3. Re-drilling to precision for the 12mm bearings and pivot bolts.
This turns a "wood joint" into a composite hard-point. It's the difference between a plane that lasts 50 hours and a plane that lasts a lifetime.
The roadmap:
I've also got the Carbon Canyon™ and the Carbon Fighter™ currently in CAD. The best part? Some of these designs are modular. The high-performance wing I'm building for the Canyon Lightning™ will slap right onto the Carbon Canyon™. I'm building a family of aircraft, and it starts with getting the details right in the shop today.
Sign up for my email list so you don't miss the plan release!
Stop dreaming. Start cutting. Fly carbon.™
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