The Scott Ol' Ironsides is an early homebuilt aircraft using wood construction with stressed fiberglass panel construction.
Design
Ol' Ironsides is a strut-braced high-wing aircraft with conventional landing gear arrangement. The wooden fuselage is made of
Sitka Spruce
''Picea sitchensis'', the Sitka spruce, is a large, coniferous, evergreen tree growing to just over tall, with a trunk diameter at breast height that can exceed 5 m (16 ft). It is by far the largest species of spruce and the fifth- ...
. Fiberglass composite skins were formed in 4 x 8 sheets using two layers of cloth with resin over a waxed
Masonite
Masonite board
Back side of a masonite board
Isorel,
Quartrboard, Masonite Corporation,
Masonite, also called Quartboard or pressboard, is a type of engineered wood made of steam-cooked and pressure-molded wood or paper fibers. The fibers ...
table. The landing gear legs, fuel tank, wink tips, wheel pants, and cowling were also formed out of
fibre-glass
Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass cloth ...
. Scott integrated elements of the
Bowers Fly Baby
The Bowers Fly Baby is a homebuilt, single-seat, open-cockpit, wood and fabric low-wing monoplane that was designed by famed United States aircraft designer and Boeing historian, Peter M. Bowers.Champion J-1 Jupiter construction with the Wittman Tailwind airfoil and general layout into the design.
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
The Continental O-190 (Company designations C75 and C85) is a series of engines made by Continental Motors beginning in the 1940s. Of flat-four
A flat-four engine, also known as a horizontally opposed-four engine or boxer engine, is a four-c ...
engine sourced from a
Cessna 140
The Cessna 120, 140, and 140A, are single-engine, two-seat, conventional landing gear (tailwheel), light general aviation aircraft that were first produced in 1946, immediately following the end of World War II. Production ended in 1951, and ...
. In 1985 the prototype aircraft was restored and re-engined with a
Continental O-200
The Continental C90 and O-200 are a family of air-cooled, horizontally opposed, four-cylinder, direct-drive aircraft engines of 201 in3 (3.29 L) displacement, producing between 90 and 100 horsepower (67 and 75 kW).''Federal Aviation Admini ...