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My S1 Restoration

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ROGER WINGER

Active Member
Joined
Apr 7, 2016
Messages
43
I've wanted one of these for a long time and when this came up for sale last August I had to have it. My wifes been very supportive of my aviation addiction and off we went for a four day drive one way across Canada in my IMG-5109.jpgColorado. When we finally got there we met Tom Long. He's in a couple Supervee videos on utube. 20200915_210359.jpg
 
This is the plane after Toms rebuild. He built it for racing but due to paperwork problems with FAA and Transport Canada. He never got to race it so he flew the Phoenix bird for his American buddy.
c-guqs-sonerai-1-fall-1993-jpg.15485
 

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The wings are very nice and in great condition but the fuselage was in need of a re-do. Which is the fun part to build imho. I stripped it all down and lately I have been sanding the old paint prepping for a nice layer of black. But here's a few pics of some of the progress I've made. The S1 did not have a canopy so i made one. Great fun and so easy to do. 20201127_203259.jpg
 
Then I made a mold for a new canopy fairing to fit the canopy. Pink foam and drywall mud and a bit of shaping. Covered in packing tape and mold release then layed up the glass.20210207_211733.jpg
 
Here's a new joystick handle I carved from some black walnut. I styled it after a P51 grip and it is very comfortable.20210618_103753.jpg20210618_103748.jpg
 
20210411_152558.jpg

New seat for the plane. Took forever to get done. Upholstery shops around here are extremely busy.
 
The wings are very nice and in great condition but the fuselage was in need of a re-do. Which is the fun part to build imho. I stripped it all down and lately I have been sanding the old paint prepping for a nice layer of black. But here's a few pics of some of the progress I've made. The S1 did not have a canopy so i made one. Great fun and so easy to do. View attachment 15486
Do you have a quick run down of how you went about making the canopy? What thickness did you go with?
 
Here's the article I used as a guide. I used 1/8" cast acrylic clear. Although I may make another with a dark tint just to have a spare.
 

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Among others, both Curbell plastics/plexiglass; and Acrylite post extensive manuals online for forming their products.
Both indicate that for full 1/2 round free-blown forms, (height = 50% width) that apex thickness is less than 1/2 original sheet thickness.
Considering the article, annealing temp for Acrylite cast plastic is spec'd by the actual manufacturer as 175F. The length of anneal for .117thick sheet is 4.5 hrs followed by 2 hrs slow cool. Plexiglass is less specific, but various notes seem to indicate 175F & "slow cooling".

In the mid 70's i attended one of the original Monnett long weekend builder seminars for college credit and was exposed to the unit they used for blowing canopies for the -1 at the time. It was a somewhat insulated plywood box, with a length of black pipe in the bottom with a series of holes drilled for a gas or propane burner. So as noted in the article the equipment can be negligible.

More recently i have been studying the various manfacturer manuals as well as the old EAA builders reports (there are several on line in addition to the link posted by the OP) since it is necessary to blow an oversize canopy for my S2. As seen in the old reports, and as shown by several youtube videos, blowing a canopy does not seem to be a significant enterprise. A pizza oven could be used to heat the sheet, and if done promptly, blown in still open air. OTOH once the need for annnealing is considered, a more complex arrangement is suggested. I'm sidling toward a PID controlled insulated convection box built out of metal studs and sheet metal like all the similar temp powder coat ovens posted online, & have settled on some of the supplies, but not the configuration of the box. Heat differentials can be used to control thickness proportions to some extent as the bubble forms, or partial heated physical forms can be used, which is difficult in open air.

smt
 
Among others, both Curbell plastics/plexiglass; and Acrylite post extensive manuals online for forming their products.
Both indicate that for full 1/2 round free-blown forms, (height = 50% width) that apex thickness is less than 1/2 original sheet thickness.
Considering the article, annealing temp for Acrylite cast plastic is spec'd by the actual manufacturer as 175F. The length of anneal for .117thick sheet is 4.5 hrs followed by 2 hrs slow cool. Plexiglass is less specific, but various notes seem to indicate 175F & "slow cooling".

In the mid 70's i attended one of the original Monnett long weekend builder seminars for college credit and was exposed to the unit they used for blowing canopies for the -1 at the time. It was a somewhat insulated plywood box, with a length of black pipe in the bottom with a series of holes drilled for a gas or propane burner. So as noted in the article the equipment can be negligible.

More recently i have been studying the various manfacturer manuals as well as the old EAA builders reports (there are several on line in addition to the link posted by the OP) since it is necessary to blow an oversize canopy for my S2. As seen in the old reports, and as shown by several youtube videos, blowing a canopy does not seem to be a significant enterprise. A pizza oven could be used to heat the sheet, and if done promptly, blown in still open air. OTOH once the need for annnealing is considered, a more complex arrangement is suggested. I'm sidling toward a PID controlled insulated convection box built out of metal studs and sheet metal like all the similar temp powder coat ovens posted online, & have settled on some of the supplies, but not the configuration of the box. Heat differentials can be used to control thickness proportions to some extent as the bubble forms, or partial heated physical forms can be used, which is difficult in open air.

smt
You bought Gaston Dorval's S2, correct? I tried to get in touch with him, but have come to the conclusion he may have passed away. Can you confirm? The reason I ask is my S1 was also previously owned by Gaston seven years ago and the engine I have (1835) was previously from your aircraft.
 
You bought Gaston Dorval's S2, correct? I tried to get in touch with him, but have come to the conclusion he may have passed away. Can you confirm? The reason I ask is my S1 was also previously owned by Gaston seven years ago and the engine I have (1835) was previously from your aircraft.

This turned out to be correct, but i did not know it at the time.
What impressed me was the general build quality and enhancements: night flight, internal wing tanks, large engine, hydraulic brakes, Mode C (though of course soon to be obsolete). On top of that was the generous attitude & complete responsiveness of the seller & our mutual interpreter.

The person who sold the airplane to me owned if for some 2 years (prior to 27 months ago when i bought it) but never did other than "high speed taxi tests" He was a competent pilot, and owned/flew hotter taildragger airplanes routinely. Something about ("mine") apparently did not give him full confidence. A friend of mine was retiring that year as a Canada Transport airplane inspector. He spent a a long morning going over it including compression & valve checks, & gave a clean bill of health with some minor squawks. The only issue that the seller seemed to return to was the (zenith) carburetor, and harped about fixing the gasket, with several examples included in the parts inventory. Perhaps shortsightedly, neither my inspector nor myself heard it run. The snow was too deep to open the hangar when Pete was there; & when i began taking parts including the wings home (through the back man-door). Later in the spring when my wife and i returned with a trailer for the fuselage, we tied down the tail and the seller went through the starting procedure with me, and tried to start the engine. I had shattered the middle finger on my left hand a couple weeks before & was not fully effective myself.

Gaston was not the builder, either. But he seems to have made many of the improvements; and probably flew it the longest number of years/most hours.
I'm not conversant with the logs at the moment but will try to review the chain of ownership at some point.

I have never met or had contact with Mr. Dorval & did not know the "social" history of C-GXPD until learning snippets after signing up on this forum.
At this distance, it is at least 4 years since his ownership. He certainly seems like someone who would have been a treat to know.

smt
 
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As far as I can tell Gaston was big on SU carbs but "tolerated" the Zenith. My S1 has a Zenith and it seems just fine. Very responsive. I did modify my intake tubes though.

This forum is actually a gold mine. I read every post Gaston put up about my S1 and was able to fill in a couple of blanks.

Good luck with your S2.
 
The 2276 in my airplane also belonged to Gaston until five years ago but whether it came from C-GPXD I don't know. He was an enthusiastic supporter of both the Sonerai and VW engines and a very helpful guy. I sure hope he hasn't gone west.

Ed
 
Me too. The original engine in my plane could be yours. The engine was swapped out on 21 May 2014. It had about 62.2 hours on it. I actually think Gaston picked up the S1, in part, for the engine at that time.

2276 has some snap I bet.
 
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I should really dig the logs out but don't have time to get lost in them at this point. Front half of house is gutted to stud walls and am building several windows to address "issues" including rot & structure. The binders for GPXD are accessible, but buried with everything else pulled out of the front of house & stacked in back rooms while renovation proceeds in fits and stutters....

Gaston had a steady program of experimentation and development for engines for GPXD & quickly grew it to 2276. Going from (sometimes faulty) memory, at one point he was using Aerovee components including the accessory plate with starter; & then, for almost a couple hundred hours, nikasil/aluminum cylinders. He seems to have had problems with both. Remains of Aerovee mount/system/accessories were included in parts that came with the airplane. It currently has a Diehl case, no starter, and conventional steel cylinders which seem to have been the most reliable set up in the logs. Engine was "rebuilt" not long before previous to me owner acquired it, and it has few hours "SMOH", but of course potential for a lot of mayhem over some 5 years of disuse and storage. It has always been hangared. Unfortunately, the neighbor's barn i was forced to store it in while waiting for hangar space at EAA/KELM is normally bone dry, but during rainy seasons flooded up to the axles a couple times before the town fixed the road drains on the hill.
Got my fingers crossed.

In an embarrassed attempt to return the subject undergoing hijack to the OP's project & canopy :) .....I did order most of the components for my version of a proposed cast acrylic sheet heating oven yesterday. Still dithering on the actual box size & parameters before going up to the building supply store for metal studs and such....

smt
 
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