Building Materials
Uncut piece of carbon fiber from HobbyKing
I have experience with using aluminum, copper, steel, plastics and wood. All of these materials have their strength and weaknesses. The one material I have never used is carbon fiber. Carbon fiber is an expensive material compared to other materials. I managed to find a supplier that sells carbon fiber at prices that are cheap enough for me to use for this project. Carbon fiberʼs strength to weight ratio is far superior to any of the aforementioned materials and therefore perfect for an aircraft.
If carbon fiber is not in the budget, a worthy substitute is Garolite. Garolite is a fiberglass composite that has similar properties as carbon fiber. Garolite is not as cool looking as carbon fiber but at a tenth of the price, it is hard to beat.
I found that the equivalent strength of Garolite is twice the thickness of carbon fiber. E.g., a Garolite sheet with a thickness of 2mm is equal in strength to a 1mm thick carbon fiber sheet.
CNC cut motor mount pieces in Garolite
