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Been in contact with AJ about the 'Shoo. Here is some history and info on it:
You will like the SnooShoo, as the two people who have flown it (first flight June '06) are Ed Bowes and Hep Porter...Hep said it was the "funnest, ugliest airplane I've ever flown!" That is a direct quote, as I witnessed the flight, he had a ball, and the airplane was in five shades of gray primer and pretty "un-glossy"! The airplane had a stock C-85 in it and Hep said he got 207 mph with the sport/race prop that was on it. He really liked it. The airplane is now in my paintbooth getting ready to "look pretty". If you'd like to see my work, go to Barnstormers.com and look at Jim Wooden's Pitts Model 12, N144RJ, finished last year at my shop (Ed Bowes flew it to Lincoln) its my first double-cover fabric job.
The history of SnooShoo goes back to 1978 when Ray Cote, his crew chief Paul White, and engineer Ken Stockbarger wanted a more competitive version of the No. 16 "Shoestring". They wanted a lighter, easier to build and faster airplane, and the SnoShoo was hatched. Ken and Paul welded up a bare fuselage, a set of spars and ribs were made, some other bits and pieces were finished, some plans were drawn, then LIFE interferred and the project went stagnant until 1991 when Al VanMeter and I bought it from Ray. We continued the design work, finished a set of drawings, and completed the proto. The cowl, spinner, turtledeck and canopy surround are all our design and we made molds for these parts. Then LIFE interferred and we didn't get the airplane flown until our pals Jim Debus, Ed Bowes and Steve Mountain worked on the racer to get it through first flight, in 2006. Its empty weight was 555 lbs then.
The wing is a Stockbarger original, and NOT the same as the version he did for a Cassutt replacement wing. We have trimmed some weight off of it, and it will weigh about 130 lbs (ailerons, mass balance, control system and all) AFTER final paint. Ed, Jim, and Steve built a Cassutt called Miss Lynn, and they used our wing design, modified with a cable system for the ailerons, modified rib construction, and used our cowling, canopy, but their own fuselage and tail. Although a bit heavy at over 600 lbs empty, it was the prettiest F-1 airplane I've ever seen! It is being rebuilt and may be at Reno this year, but it will look like a stocker Cassutt.
Shortcomings of the SnoShoo? Well, I've built two Cassutts and about three and a half SnoShoos so I can say that the Cassutt is a simpler airframe to build, all ribs are similar, and the fuselage frame is really easy. The 'Shoo has a prettier tapered wing, but each rib is uniquely built in pairs. Its spars are tapered in width and thickness, and its fuselage is almost identical to the Shoestring lineage with its triangular cross section aft of the cockpit. Good news is that I have a fuselage jig and can supply this item for a builder who needs one. Any other shortcomings mostly constitute a minor detriment for sport use: a locked-straight ahead tailwheel, a lift-off canopy, tight baffling/engine cooling, and the 12" prop extension. These are all being addressed by us.... as Al and I are working on a "Sport SnoShoo" for his personal use.
Lastly, you ask about a new wing; and Al's Sporter will have a super-simple, (Cassutt -like) all-wood wing of 18' span, but still have the minimum allowable F-1 legal 66 sq. ft. of area. I need to get Al out of his hibernation so we can proceed with this! The original SnoShoo will be all painted and shiny by late July, and looking for a race engine!
Some Q & A:
Is the Snoshoo still a competitive design with todays composite planes/wings?
Is the SnooShoo still a competitive design? Absolutely YES! Keep in mind that this airplane was designed to be better than Ray Cote's "Shoestring" and that racer held a qualifying lap record of 254+ mph for many years. It’s a speed that will get you well into the Gold today. When #16 went that fast, it had a wood wing that Stockbarger designed as a replacement to its (Kriemendahl) original, and is virtually identical to SnoShoo's design. I firmly believe that the ingredients for success in the F-1 class are engine, pilot, prop...and in that order! There is no reason that a properly prepared SnoShoo can't compete with the best Gold class racers. Given a great, hard-hitting engine/prop, the man in a SnooShoo has no reason to take a back seat at Reno.
Can the Snoshoo be easily turned into a sport plane? :
Sure, the airplane can be made into a Sporter, and Hep Porter thought we should make it such, as he liked how it flies with a stocker C-85. The mods to turn it from a hard-core racer into a sportflyer are not significant. You will probably like it better than a Cassutt!
What kind of climb rate were you getting with it?:
Climb rate? With the C-85...it wasn't on our agenda during testing.
Can a bigger than listed 6 gallon fuel tank be used for cross country and sport flying? :
We removed a gas tank that I made that held around 18 gallons....and put a 6-gal. tank for racing in it. So 18-20 galllons are no problem!
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