Just spent about two hours reading every post that had the word "aluminum" in it and learned a whole bunch! AL isn't as scary as I thought... actually it will work much better for my application than luan or Masonite. I've got an aluminum supplier right up the street from me that specializes in sheet AL for home airplane builders.
OK, firin up AutoCAD soon as I have a samich! Prolly be back with questions once I start workin on the intricate details.