Divide and conquer, bite-sized, step-by-step and other ways to remind yourself how to deal with complexity. One peculiarity about complex things is that they come with elaborate systems to create them. These systems are basically complexity management strategies and always work in a similar way. They are about abstraction layers and assigning components to these layers. The goal is to black-box away as much complexity in the layers underneath. This way, unnecessary detail can be avoided most of the time and hitting the complexity wall comes at a later time. For a small airplane this makes sense too. For example, most of the time it is sufficient to think of the landing gear as the bouncy, rolly thing underneath. That’s the abstraction layer “landing gear.” Sometime it becomes necessary to dig deeper and open this black box to see why the brake pads are not gripping. In this case the box gets a look at its content. ![[Building by Subsystem-20241102200522615.jpg]] With all these ruminations out of the way, the project’s subsystems are: - [Airplane](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ULG9u2_vUWcdcBUvstu5ninc74Uj9QLDMjE02g02l0Q/edit?usp=sharing) (anything not assigned to a subsystem) - [Avionics and Electrical](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sppjTarECC7vYjyj1z8Jxpv8pH7xWKh2N7eD9rx5zvo/edit?usp=sharing) (instruments, panel, sensors, alt/bat/starter) - [Engine and Propeller](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FOYIRhRy15W0rp9Bxpr63gSHTWX3Prf-F9TAelPCshs/edit?usp=sharing) (oil cooler, baffling, governor, mags, spinner) - [Fabric and Paint](https://docs.google.com/document/d/144NhQPsZyLbN6D6ORz4XWhYR5E-7cw5coI_7lQfOojY/edit?usp=sharing) (fabric cover, paint of fabric and aluminum) - [Flight Controls](https://docs.google.com/document/d/15s0BRzdDA-twkOlsC713yf6ppJlTyv8zbGdg39rHlDE/edit?usp=sharing) (elevator, ailerons, rudder, flaps, trim) - [Fuel System](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1o3hYVXRabumMfiDeLuhEJBYnv_3jJLtmAtQsOe3_M-k/edit?usp=sharing) (tanks, caps, fuel lines, gascolator, valve) - [Fuselage](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SpVYzhdmrnvERY7bfH0kZ04L24viNlO_l-oDsLcqxyY/edit?usp=sharing) (firewall, seats, vert/hor stab, windows/doors) - [Landing Gear](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ejfv-MzD-rNTlBgk5ycaS4iAYaFBcwLMfUzw7Z8nMMQ/edit?usp=sharing) (wheels, shocks, brake system) - [Wings](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1r-U6MVYvQhEbmwG9JzPMVQMLxevxUtxcxvDwJSj5-eo/edit?usp=sharing) (wing tips, service panels, struts)