CAD software for budding engineer

[tartare]

Gents,
Little Tartare is aged 10 and is intensely curious about aircraft, engineering and computers - and likes designing things.
Is there a basic CAD program that you could recommend which would allow the design of 3D models?
Don't mind paying a little (not a lot though).
I assume that although Autodesk seems to be widely used, something like that would be way too complex for even a computer savvy kid.
We are a Mac household.

[piggybank]

I reckon young people can learn anything on computers ideally with a knowledgeable person giving guidance. Something that should be emphasized strongly in the first stage of design is make it so it can be fixed by an average person. After more than 40 years maintenance experience it appears to me that no effort whatsoever was made to make parts to be inspected and maintained reachable and are sometimes hardly visible to the maintainer. The best maintenance tool is probably a chainsaw so you can get to the bit being worked on.

[Yeelep]

Sometimes I think they position all the parts in space and then build the airframe around them. The foot air valve on 737's comes immediately to mind.

I have Alibre design, I think it was about $100US. Its probably to complex for this 44 year old but may be perfect for your 10 year old. :) I know its not really and engineering type program but how about sketchup.

[Genghis the Engineer]

If he was in his teens, I'd suggest Turbocad which is affordable and powerful.

At 10, I think seriously I'd suggest a drawing board and set of instruments. Fairly inexpensive, and anything drawn can potentially be made in, say, foam or balsa?

Alternately what about X-plane + Plane-maker? It's a very good flight simulator, available on the mac, and he can design and fly his own aeroplane designs? A quite different type of design work, but really satisfying for him to design aeroplanes from scratch and then fly them.

G

[goldeneaglepilot]

Perhaps in this instance Google Sketchup would be good - £36 for the educational version. Not a full blown CAD package but good basic skills for 3d product design

Genghis - no self respecting child wants to use things like drawing instruments today!! Everything tends to be done on a computer, even basic colouring at the age of 5. I just had a great fun hour playing with this one bulldog with bone coloring page - Coloring.com (http://www.coloring.com/online/bulldog-bone)

;);)

[Genghis the Engineer]

I have 5 assorted nephews and neices, 3 in that age bracket, and all very happy with variations on lego, pencils and glue.

They like their computers as well, but as-well, not instead.

G

[Charles E Taylor]

You might find this worth a very good look.

PTC - Creo Elements/Direct Modeling Express 4.0 (http://www.ptc.com/products/creo-elements-direct/modeling-express/)

It is free, there are lots of tutorials on youtube, your children will probably use it at school.

The lessons are building with LEGO.

This is not a toy. You can do some very significant work with this.


Install it and give it a try, you might get hooked.


I hope this helps.




Charlie

[tartare]

Many thanks guys.
A few there I didn't know of.
Genghis - I tried showing him his grandad's flight computer and explaining how that funny little round thing could compute all sorts of useful data when the old boy flew the 707.
He nodded - and then headed straight off to the ipad to try and land a virtual Hornet on a virtual flight deck... no contest!

[Genghis the Engineer]

Genghis - I tried showing him his grandad's flight computer and explaining how that funny little round thing could compute all sorts of useful data when the old boy flew the 707.

I've had the same problem teaching MSc students :sad:

G