AirplanePDQ Software Converts Dreams Into Flight

Their slogan pretty much says it all: "Airplane Designers Wanted, No Experience Required." AirplanePDQ, a state-of-the-art airplane design software package from DaVinci Technologies, is now shipping the first full release of the product after introducing it in prerelease form at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh.

Designed by 34-year-old aerospace engineer, Gil Crouse Jr., Ph.D., AirplanePDQ enables would-be airplane designers to experiment with their design ideas for a completely new airplane, or analyze modifications to existing designs. "This may not be 'airplane design for dummies,' but it's pretty close," Crouse says. "What we've done is take the tedious computational work out of the design process so that an everyday person can enjoy experimenting with various design ideas without getting bogged down in the math."

Designed to appeal to "nonengineering" users, AirplanePDQ also incorporates advanced features that will be of interest to power users who are more technically oriented. The software includes full-featured computer-aided design software and incorporates Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications 6.0 (VBA), a powerful object-oriented programming tool that allows users to expand the functionality and capabilities of the software.

Although wandering from a designer's original plans is never advised, homebuilders are generally a curious lot, and AirplanePDQ will make it possible for both builders and serious designers to personalize their planes and evaluate the performance changes that would result from design changes. You can use AirplanePDQ to learn more about airplane design principles, experiment with airplane design ideas, analyze modifications to your existing airplane, design, or kit, or explore the full performance range of an existing plane, design, or kit.

Crouse expects that many people who lack the time to build a plane will buy AirplanePDQ for the pure enjoyment of playing around with airplane design ideas. "One of the things that pleases me most is that we can provide a product in a price range to appeal to customers who may have no intention of building a custom airplane," Crouse says.

AirplanePDQ is being offered at an introductory price of $75. It can be ordered from the company website at www.davincitechnologies.com or by calling 301/317-6568.

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From November 2000 issue of EAA's Sport Aviation Magazine.  Reprinted with permission from EAA.