Ol' Ironsides
Role Homebuilt aircraft
National origin United States
Designer Ron Scott
First flight 22 November 1969

The Scott Ol' Ironsides is an early homebuilt aircraft using wood construction with stressed fiberglass panel construction.[1]


Design

Ol' Ironsides is a strut-braced high-wing aircraft with conventional landing gear arrangement. The wooden fuselage is made of Sitka Spruce. Fiberglass composite skins were formed in 4 x 8 sheets using two layers of cloth with resin over a waxed Masonite table. The landing gear legs, fuel tank, wink tips, wheel pants, and cowling were also formed out of fibre-glass. Scott integrated elements of the Bowers Fly Baby and Champion J-1 Jupiter construction with the Wittman Tailwind airfoil and general layout into the design.[2]

Operational history

Construction of the aircraft was started in the mid-1960s starting with a model rather than a drawing. Ol' Ironsides first flew on 22 November 1969 with a Continental C-85 engine sourced from a Cessna 140. In 1985 the prototype aircraft was restored and re-engined with a Continental O-200 and Sterba wooden propeller.[3]

Specifications (Ol' Ironsides)

Data from Sport Aviation

General characteristics

  • Crew: 1
  • Length: 17 ft (5.2 m)
  • Wingspan: 19 ft 6 in (5.94 m)
  • Wing area: 79.2 sq ft (7.36 m2)
  • Empty weight: 720 lb (327 kg)
  • Gross weight: 1,125 lb (510 kg)
  • Fuel capacity: 18 gal
  • Powerplant: 1 × Continental C-85 4-cyl. horizontally opposed piston engine, 85 hp (63 kW)
  • Powerplant: 1 × Continental O-200 4-cyl. horizontally opposed piston engine, 100 hp (75 kW)

Performance

  • Cruise speed: 117 kn (135 mph, 217 km/h) , 145 mph (233 km/h) with O-200
  • Stall speed: 48 kn (55 mph, 89 km/h)
  • Rate of climb: 1,200 ft/min (6.1 m/s)

Avionics
Terra Radio, Flybuddy Loran

See also

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

References

  1. Air Trails: 14. Winter 1971. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. "Why EAA? Ask "Ol' Ironsides"". Sport Aviation: 4. November 1971.
  3. Jack Cox (May 1992). "Ol' Ironsides revisited". Sport Aviation.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.