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ACRO E-mail Archive Thread: FW: One Design

Thread: FW: One Design

Message: FW: One Design

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From: "Wagner, Robert C." <Robert.Wagner at alliedsignal.com>

Date: Mon, 06 May 1996 21:12:51 UTC

Message:

  Richard Steffens,

I modified the message I sent to you, added some more comments, and
forwarded it to the IAC page for others to benefit from the information.
 I'm no expert in the matter, but perhaps my opinions might help some
other lonely homebuilder out there trying to get into this crazy sport.

Bob Wagner
Phoenix.

 ----------
From: Wagner, Robert C.
To: Richard E Steffens
Subject: RE: One Design
Date: Monday, May 06, 1996 11:29AM

I'm building an S1S.  My advise on the subject is that if you are
thinking of building an S1C, you can build an S1S for the same cost as
an S1C but it would be a much better airplane for just about anything
you want to do with it.  Also the Aviat factory will support a
homebuilder of an S1S by buying the plans from them.  However, even if
you don't have factory plans they are very helpful in answering
questions and will sell you parts (for those parts you don't feel like
building yourself).  They have some stipulations on guarantying whether
the parts will fit or not, but again I've found them to be very helpful
and reasonable.  I am very pleased with the Aviat support I get and I do
not have a set of factory original plans.  The factory original plans
have a serial number assigned to them.

With that said, I can add this additional insight to help answer your
other questions about the one design.  I'm building a Pitts because I
love the Pitts, and I love biplanes.  The One Design is probably easier
to land than a Pitts, and has double the roll rate.  You probably would
want to build a One Design with an 0-360 however instead of the standard
0-320 called out for on the plans, and I'm not sure how that fits in
with the One Design category rules (I'm pretty sure it doesn't).  The
One Design, I'm told, really performs with an 0-360.  With an 0-360
however the One Design and the Pitts can be built for about the same
cost.  With an 0-320 the One Design is less expensive to build than a
Pitts.  I think also that the One Design is faster to build, perhaps.
The One Design still performs well on an 0-320, from what I've read
about the matter.

The One Design prototype showed up at the Arizona State Aerobatic
Championships a couple of years ago, and many people flew the airplane
and liked the airplane, despite it's early quirks.  Improvements have
been made since then also.   I understand the buffeting issue identified
early on in the design is now gone, which was the only real problem with
the design, if you want to call it a problem. Heck, a Pitts buffets
pretty good when you pull hard on it also.   Independent of all of that,
I personally still like the Pitts better than the One Design.  That's my
personal opinion.  Biplanes just really get it for me I guess.

 You might want to contact Pete Groves in B.C. Canada at Precision
Custom Aircraft.  (He advertises, or used to advertise, in Sport
Aerobatics).  He is the current publisher of the One Design newsletter
and can answer a lot of questions you might have.  He is also very
helpful with Pitts questions.  Check your Sport Aerobatics back issues -
two really good articles have been printed about Pete Groves building
both the One Design and the Pitts.  The most recent article was called
"A West Coast Pitts".  Really great article on the Pitts.  Pete also
built the first "from plans" One Design.

Good luck.
Bob Wagner
Phoenix

 ----------
From: Richard E Steffens
To: iac at harten.cbu.edu
Subject: One Design
Date: Monday, May 06, 1996 9:28AM

     Hi,

     I've been lurking for some time and now have some questions. I'm
new
     to aerobatics, but been having fun with my old citabria. Then I got
     ruined with some rides in Yaks and an Eagle. I'm building an RV-6
     which is near enough to completion to where I am thinking about my
     next airplane. While the RV will be a great fun, traveling, and
     limited acro performer, I want to build a plane for competition.
Here
     is where I'm asking for comments.

     Some of my choices: (I like building and want to build a new
airplane)

     Giles G-200 or 202 - Great planes, but too expensive.

     One Design - Saw it perform last two SNFs - Certainly performs well
     and I'll probably never be limited by the performance of the
airplane.
     The construction appears not to be too difficult.

     Pitts S1C - Hale Wallace now has the homebuilt rights for that
plane
     and he is only ~40 miles from me. (He also has the Skybolt, but
that
     plane is too big I think).

     So what do you think?

     I would like some info from those building a 1D.
     How is it going and what's the future for that plane?
     How well will it or is it being accepted in the acro community?
     Any particular problems in building it?
     How many are being built?

     Guess I'm leaning towards the 1D, but I'm still open.

     Thanks

     Dick Steffens, Lake Norman, NC
     resteffe at dpcmail.dukepower.com