All,
I've got a beautiful little blue S1S with a bunch of mods. Pictures are on my intro page, for those that haven't seen it.
So I bought a new hangar (HUGE PROJECT SPACE!) and the winters get a little cold where I reside. I'm thinking about taking on some winter projects to improve performance on my S1S. I've read that Spades cause a bunch of drag and whatnot and started considering the 'SS' wing/aileron.
My question: Does the SS wing/aileron kit that is sold by Steen or the Raven wing kit actually provide noticable performance increases? Will the roll-rate improve enough to make this worth the effort?
The idea started when I began considering weight reductions. I've done the lightweight starter, alternator, and smaller battery. I've also removed some instruments and revamped a bunch of wiring among other things. I was thinking about a full rebuild as there are some things that I'd like to rework from the origional construction. I got thinking, if it were worth it, I would start with building a fresh set of wings. Get 'em built and ready, test fit and rigged, covered, etc.. In my own sick little mind, that seemed like a great way to reduce downtime when the rebuild actually goes.
But is it really worth my time to pursue the SS? My Pitts rolls pretty quick as-is (gap seals and spades). It's rightunder 800 pounds with oil but no gas (penalized by the spring gear and stretched fuse).
I probably won't push this airframe past Intermediate or Advanced. I did, however, try some of the figures from Guido's Unlimited Free program and have no idea how the hell he did that. I would need quite a few breaks to make that one...
I've got a beautiful little blue S1S with a bunch of mods. Pictures are on my intro page, for those that haven't seen it.
So I bought a new hangar (HUGE PROJECT SPACE!) and the winters get a little cold where I reside. I'm thinking about taking on some winter projects to improve performance on my S1S. I've read that Spades cause a bunch of drag and whatnot and started considering the 'SS' wing/aileron.
My question: Does the SS wing/aileron kit that is sold by Steen or the Raven wing kit actually provide noticable performance increases? Will the roll-rate improve enough to make this worth the effort?
The idea started when I began considering weight reductions. I've done the lightweight starter, alternator, and smaller battery. I've also removed some instruments and revamped a bunch of wiring among other things. I was thinking about a full rebuild as there are some things that I'd like to rework from the origional construction. I got thinking, if it were worth it, I would start with building a fresh set of wings. Get 'em built and ready, test fit and rigged, covered, etc.. In my own sick little mind, that seemed like a great way to reduce downtime when the rebuild actually goes.
But is it really worth my time to pursue the SS? My Pitts rolls pretty quick as-is (gap seals and spades). It's rightunder 800 pounds with oil but no gas (penalized by the spring gear and stretched fuse).
I probably won't push this airframe past Intermediate or Advanced. I did, however, try some of the figures from Guido's Unlimited Free program and have no idea how the hell he did that. I would need quite a few breaks to make that one...
