Hey everyone, I'm new.
My wife and I just took a chance on a Skybolt that came out of GA with some modifications I haven't seen anywhere else. It has an AEIO-360-A1D with McCauley CS prop and was (as the story goes) originally built with only a single seat and was later modified back to a two hole. Its a 1983 build that was done in Atmore Alabama and is very low time, only 120 hours TT AF and Engine since new.
Unfortunately we've already found some problems with the gear truss (big problems resulting from a hacked up patch job from undisclosed previous damage :/ ) and Im most likely moving forward with changing it from the individual spring steel gear it has now (never seen on any other skybolt) to the grove single spring aluminum gear to eliminate the stresses put on that truss.
In addition this skybolt has a few other mods that Im wondering if anyone has seen before.
It has different rudder and elevators than the stock skybolt. they are rounded off but have straight trailing edges. Looks similar to what the smith miniplane has.
It has a different cowling and nose bowl which is almost like the firebolt, but not sure if it is or not. If someone recognizes that let me know.
As i mentioned, the spring gear that were on it were individual spring gear and looks like it might have been added after the original build. Maybe following a failure of the truss for the bungee gear, as i understand that has now become a known point of failure for the earlier builds.
It was also built with the head and shoulder contouring turtle deck as opposed to the more standard single arcing turtle deck.
Moving forward, I am interested in getting opinions on the clipped wing mod and changing it over from open cockpit to the enclosed canopy. Havent figured out the pros and cons yet on bubble vs clamshell, however, either way I understand I will be changing out that turtle deck.
Im glad to be a new part of the group and thanks in advance for the help!
Austin
My wife and I just took a chance on a Skybolt that came out of GA with some modifications I haven't seen anywhere else. It has an AEIO-360-A1D with McCauley CS prop and was (as the story goes) originally built with only a single seat and was later modified back to a two hole. Its a 1983 build that was done in Atmore Alabama and is very low time, only 120 hours TT AF and Engine since new.
Unfortunately we've already found some problems with the gear truss (big problems resulting from a hacked up patch job from undisclosed previous damage :/ ) and Im most likely moving forward with changing it from the individual spring steel gear it has now (never seen on any other skybolt) to the grove single spring aluminum gear to eliminate the stresses put on that truss.
In addition this skybolt has a few other mods that Im wondering if anyone has seen before.
It has different rudder and elevators than the stock skybolt. they are rounded off but have straight trailing edges. Looks similar to what the smith miniplane has.
It has a different cowling and nose bowl which is almost like the firebolt, but not sure if it is or not. If someone recognizes that let me know.
As i mentioned, the spring gear that were on it were individual spring gear and looks like it might have been added after the original build. Maybe following a failure of the truss for the bungee gear, as i understand that has now become a known point of failure for the earlier builds.
It was also built with the head and shoulder contouring turtle deck as opposed to the more standard single arcing turtle deck.
Moving forward, I am interested in getting opinions on the clipped wing mod and changing it over from open cockpit to the enclosed canopy. Havent figured out the pros and cons yet on bubble vs clamshell, however, either way I understand I will be changing out that turtle deck.
Im glad to be a new part of the group and thanks in advance for the help!
Austin
