Wow. Nice creds. Maybe we work together. My point was not that wood is comparable to CFRP etc, it was simply that wood is one of many composite products available that have different qualities and applications. IMHO, as an astronaut/jillionaire/male-model/tycoon/FBI Fighter pilot Evaluator/syndicated cartoonist/semi-pro nose-tweeker.
All of that is true, except I'm not Batman, I try not to be evil, and my basement workshop is not secret. My company makes some pretty cool space-age sandwich panel stuff, too bad I can't say much more about that.
Anyway, since I've got big balls of steel I'll say a thing or two to try to keep Joe from killing himself when his car cracks up. Even if he's using FEA it will not properly simulate the odd directional strength properties of wood and how bond failures propagate under vibratory and cyclic loading. I know my FEA says it does, but it is only as good as what you know. So if you don't know the answer before you run the simulation then you don't know if it computed things right. He needs to drop back and choose the best material for each part and not just stick to organic composites. Otherwise his wooden bearings are really going to suck, and creosote is not the same as a firewall. If he would settle for 50% of the structure being wooden or something like that I could take his venture a little more seriously. I like what he's doing, I just don't think he's smart enough to keep from being a danger to himself and others with this current project.