Cad Programs

I am gathering info before jumping back into our hobby at retirement in 6 to 9 months.
What is a good, economical cad program for drawing plans and airfoils?
My experience level is: rather computer literate, know my way around building sketch programs and survey plot programs since I am an industrial appraiser.
Has anyone had any experience with "DesignCad ", "ModelCad", "Wingmaster", "Compufoil 3D", "Winfoil", or "Instant Modeler"? These are some I ran across on the net.

Guy Blankinship
AMA 14272

Hi Guy, here's the one I've been using for some time now, it's FREE, and able to do most things, you can import airfoils in dxf format. Here's the link http://www.cadstd.com/
Also a good way to get used to and practice CAD'ing if it's all new to you.
John

John,

Does CadStd have a practical *Tutorial* with it??

Was surprised at the size of the program....it's only 651KB. That seems too small for a basic CAD program.

I downloaded TurboCAD LE, but there are no manuals available for it, so learning is difficult.

TIA

Warren Wagner

>John,
>
>Does CadStd have a practical *Tutorial* with it??
>
>Was surprised at the size of the program....it's only 651KB.
>That seems too small for a basic CAD program.
>
>I downloaded TurboCAD LE, but there are no manuals available
>for it, so learning is difficult.
>
>TIA
>
>Warren Wagner

I have the user guide in PDF for turbocad v4. I can email it to you let me know.

Terry

http://www.dustersrcclub.com/

Hi Warren, the program includes a comprehensive explanation of all functions in the HELP section, like any software the best way to learn is " to get in there ". It was my first CAD experience, I picked it up OK, and I'm no Einstein! IMHO it's well worth downloading the free version to learn the basics of CAD, you'll find that it's more than suitable for model aeroplane design. There is also a Professional version available which is inexpensive.
John

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Here is a link to Turbocad LE

http://www.al-ki.com/tcad/download.php

Autosketch 9 by Autodesk is a nice tight package with a short learning cycle. Cost is about $30 or less and will do everything you want.

http://cgi.ebay.com/AUTODESK-AUTOSKETCH-9-CAD-AUTO-SKETCH-SOFTWARE-NEW_W0QQitemZ150092545828QQihZ005QQcategoryZ188QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Try Canvas by Deneba - http://www.deneba.com/.
This is an illustration program that can do many things.

It handles Drafting, Illustrations, Publications, Photo Editing and Artwork. Take a look at it - it handles many formats and has a lot of conversion power for many formats including dxf.

Regards
Dave Cook

If you already have access to Adobe Illustrator
it is an excellent program for developing
airfoils and fuselage stations.
For example, using the "Blend" function,
draw your root airfoil and your tip
airfoil, curse them (*%$#!), specify the number of
"steps" (ribs) between them and the program
will draw a perfectly developed set of
tapered wing ribs.
I then print them out, lightly glue them
to the balsa stock and cut through both.
Also works great for curvaceous fuselages.

Lots of fun!

I use AUTOSKETCH 9 by AUTODESK (about $60 at FRYs Electronics), and have been using the same program in various upgrades since before the name changed from GenericCad. It does not do 3D. Both it and TURBOCAD and several others can save drawings in AUTOCAD format.

Familiarity with the program is the common denomoinator for any software. I've found that having the program and using a tutorial is OK, but one really doesn't learn HOW to use it until one tries to make a drawing. Necessity makes things become clearer.


don Burke
Menifee, CA

>What is a good, economical cad program for drawing plans and
>airfoils?

TurboCAD and DesignCAD are cheap but use the same CAD engine and have similar number of bugs. TurboCAD has bigger support base and comes in 3 flaogrs: professional,Deluxe and Designer. Designer is 2D only, Deluxe adds 3D, Pro adds more 3D elemens + rendering. Prices are $40,$100 and $300.
To get $300 on Pro you need to submit a request for deluxe, add you home phone# and wait for them to call you. in about 2 weeks they will call and offer Pro for $300.

Hmmmm. Cad Std took all of 3 seconds to download the free version.
Jon Ramsden
<@_@>

I use both IntelliCAD (the free version) and QCAD (also free). I'm a marginal CAD draftsman, but I learn a little more each time I use it.

Turbo CAD's biggest plus to me is that it has excellent handling of DFX files, both import and export. I've had it successfully read files that would choke other programs or come in full of garbage. It also handles older dfx versions much better than even AutoCAD.

TurboCAD also runs on a Mac

There is a free program out on the internet (can't remember the url) called "Profili" that was developed by a modeler in Italy. It allows you to draw almost any airfoil that you can imagine, and it also has a vast library of standard airfoils. The program allows you to load or draw an airfoil, then specify a tip and root rib size (you can also use different airfoils for the root and tip), tell it what the span of the wing is and how many ribs you want, and it will automatically draw all of them for you. You can even tell it what thickness of sheeting you plan to use on the wing, and it will draw the ribs allowing for the sheeting thickness. If the rib is too large to fit on a sheet of 8.5 x 11 paper, it will split the ribs across two sheets and show you where to splice them together. All in all a very nice program and not too difficult to use.

>There is a free program out on the internet (can't remember
>the url) called "Profili" that was developed by a
>modeler in Italy. It allows you to draw almost any airfoil
>that you can imagine, and it also has a vast library of
>standard airfoils. The program allows you to load or draw an
>airfoil, then specify a tip and root rib size (you can also
>use different airfoils for the root and tip), tell it what the
>span of the wing is and how many ribs you want, and it will
>automatically draw all of them for you. You can even tell it
>what thickness of sheeting you plan to use on the wing, and it
>will draw the ribs allowing for the sheeting thickness. If the
>rib is too large to fit on a sheet of 8.5 x 11 paper, it will
>split the ribs across two sheets and show you where to splice
>them together. All in all a very nice program and not too
>difficult to use.

http://www.profili2.com/

Terry

http://www.dustersrcclub.com/