We all know that airplanes should be constructed as light as possible, provided that structural strength isn't compromised. This seems pretty obvious, but some of the advantages of careful, lightweight building techniques are more subtle! In this two-part article, we'll explore both the importance of building lightly and examples of how to lighten flying structures without sacrificing strength. The general impetus of this article comes from Clay Ramskill's online articles of the same topic - we will explore it more fully however.