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The faculty and staff of the Raspet Flight Research Laboratory (RFRL) have concluded a project with an industrial customer to lead a group of engineers and technicians in a study of the “art” of developing a prototype composite aircraft. The objective was to produce a turbine powered, composite, pressurized, single-engine aircraft, which would introduce the team to the many aspects of a complex aircraft in a environment. The prototype Allison Soloy turbine conversion of the Beechcraft A-36 was chosen as the study aircraft. It was proposed that the A-36 structure be replaced with composite structures in three steps of increasing complexity. The sequence was to first design-build-test-fly the tail, then the wings, and finally the fuselage. To limit the difficulty of the project development and to allow a meaningful comparison between aluminum and composite structures, the configuration modifications were to be minor and to utilize existing RFRL Marvel II composite technology.