Lee's Garage - We Build the Acroduster Too
Left: Acroduster Too SA-750 -- built by Jim Causey
Yep, last year around April 1995 I took on the project of building, a homebuilt airplane in my garage. For those of you who thought software engineering was tough, check out this job! I'm about a year into it now, and for most of that year my accomplishment was tablefulls and boxfulls of little fabricated parts (like seventy-odd wing ribs and sixty-odd aluminum fittings). But finally, after a lot of work, I am actually seeing real assemblies of airplane come forth, like wings and things.
Homebuilding is a really cool thing.
My project is a two-place aerobatic biplane called the
Acroduster Too - design and plans from the Stolp Starduster
Corporation in Riverside, California. You might be familiar
with its familial predecessors, the "Starduster" line of biplanes,
of which nearly a thousand have been constructed or under construction
around the world over the past twenty-five years. The Starduster is known for its
classic lines, and for its classic sense of biplane flight and the
feeling of an earlier era of aviating.
Right: Acroduster Too SA-750 -- built by Wayne Ensey
Unlike the Starduster, the Acroduster Too is specifically designed for competition aerobatics. In terms of both size and performance, it is roughly similar to the Pitts Special or Christen Eagle biplanes, and a bit smaller than the Starduster Too or the Steen Skybolt. The Acroduster Too was originally conceived by Morgan Schrack in 1972, and engineered and drawn by Jim Osborne of Stolp Starduster Corporation during the early 70's. The plans I am working from are dated 1972-1975, depending on which page you are looking at.
To the uninitiated, an Acroduster Too looks like a cut-down version of the classic Starduster Too. But while it is the same in most visual respects (including the beautiful elliptical Starduster wing), the similarity stops there. With a shorter wing span and fuselage, symmetrical airfoil, more and heavier fuselage members, stronger wing fittings and controls, we have the makings of a very competent aerobatic airplane.
You are going to read about my attempts to build one as you go through the
subsequent sections. While my experiences with the Acroduster are
relevant mostly to the plans-builder, the first section on setting up a workshop
should apply to any prospective homebuilder, whether working from kit or plans. Good luck!
Lee