Hi all,
You probably didn't notice but I've been a bit pre-occupied lately and haven't been posting as much. Work has been keeping us busy and I've started a new project in place of the 8KCAB I was working on earlier this year. The project is a Pitts S1-11, Curtis Pitts' second to last completed design, a single place aerobatic biplane that was meant to compete against the dominant monoplanes of the time.
It's my fourth attempt to build a biplane. The first was a Skybolt that I abandoned after I realized what it would cost to build vs. what it would be worth when it was done. Being a young dad and a fledgling airline guy, the prospect of losing lots of money to build a plane myself didn't seem to make sense. Next up was a Pitts Model 12 that I never really started after accumulating a few parts here and there. After that I acquired a super nice Pitts S1-SS project that I sold a couple of years later to fund a small business.
It was my plan to start this latest biplane project not long after buying the Citabria but then I hit the bird, spent 2 yrs rebuilding the wings and painting everything, etc. and here we are.
The plane was originally designed around the Lycoming IO-540 but I was going to change things enough so that the smaller four cylinder IO-390 would fit. In my humble opinion, the airframe is a perfect match for the engine but strange things happen when you surf Barnstormers late at night. A couple of weeks ago I came across a low time IO-540 listed for a reasonable price less than an hour from my house. Two weeks later it was on a trailer and on its way home with me.
In addition to scrounging parts I've started building wing ribs and have the lower compression ribs done. Most all of the spruce in the ribs is coming from my Citabria 7ECA wing spars that were swapped out for Milman aluminum spars. I've been cutting the spars down to the sizes called for in the plans and should have enough to make all of the ribs.
It's relaxing work and I'm super happy to be underway with it.
Here are a couple of PIREPs on the S1-11 by Bud Davisson
I'll post updates as things move along.
You probably didn't notice but I've been a bit pre-occupied lately and haven't been posting as much. Work has been keeping us busy and I've started a new project in place of the 8KCAB I was working on earlier this year. The project is a Pitts S1-11, Curtis Pitts' second to last completed design, a single place aerobatic biplane that was meant to compete against the dominant monoplanes of the time.
It's my fourth attempt to build a biplane. The first was a Skybolt that I abandoned after I realized what it would cost to build vs. what it would be worth when it was done. Being a young dad and a fledgling airline guy, the prospect of losing lots of money to build a plane myself didn't seem to make sense. Next up was a Pitts Model 12 that I never really started after accumulating a few parts here and there. After that I acquired a super nice Pitts S1-SS project that I sold a couple of years later to fund a small business.
It was my plan to start this latest biplane project not long after buying the Citabria but then I hit the bird, spent 2 yrs rebuilding the wings and painting everything, etc. and here we are.
The plane was originally designed around the Lycoming IO-540 but I was going to change things enough so that the smaller four cylinder IO-390 would fit. In my humble opinion, the airframe is a perfect match for the engine but strange things happen when you surf Barnstormers late at night. A couple of weeks ago I came across a low time IO-540 listed for a reasonable price less than an hour from my house. Two weeks later it was on a trailer and on its way home with me.
In addition to scrounging parts I've started building wing ribs and have the lower compression ribs done. Most all of the spruce in the ribs is coming from my Citabria 7ECA wing spars that were swapped out for Milman aluminum spars. I've been cutting the spars down to the sizes called for in the plans and should have enough to make all of the ribs.
It's relaxing work and I'm super happy to be underway with it.
Here are a couple of PIREPs on the S1-11 by Bud Davisson
I'll post updates as things move along.
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