ABF

Yep, Lexan (or polycarbonate) sheet can easily be cold formed in a press brake. Plexiglass (or acrylic) sheet needs to be heated.before it will form.

Lexan is somewhat softer than plexiglass so it will scratch more easily. It can also be drilled without the tendency to crack like plexiglass.

Lexan is not resistant to gas and will craze if gas is spilled on it. I discovered that when I used it for a windshield on my pre-war Aeronca.

... the reinforcement I was talking about is in the spar about where the struts attach.

Hi Cropduster,

I had a look inside a spar and can't see anything other than the ends of the pop rivets that hold the strut attach bracket to the tube.

Thanks for the welcome. Yes, I'm lucky to have a bunch of guys like the Tiger Boys so close by. They've always been a big help to me. Their main interest is restoring vintage airplanes and early homebuilts.    Here are some shots of a recent open day. Hope this works. 

Hello everyone,

I came across this forum after I bought a Ridge Runner mod 2 and since it is descended from the Avid Fox airplanes and there seem to be a lot of knowledgeable people on here, I thought I'd better join.

I'm a long time tail wheel pilot, grew up in England and had four airplanes so far. A Tipsy Nipper, a Belgian single seat VW powered aerobatic airplane, an American Yankee AA1 I owned for 10 years and a 1938 Aeronca Chief which I owned for around 23 years but regrettably sold a couple of years ago. I built the wings for a Steen Skybolt back in England and that airplane is now flying in the Austrian Alps.

I live in Southern Ontario and until recently, had a hangar at a local farm strip. The owner of the strip just died, his kids have sold the place and the new owner has no interest in continuing its use. My RR requires some repairs before it will fly again so I'm kind of stuck at the moment figuring what to do.

These guys are friends of mine at our local airport, http://www.tigerboys.com/

They have a large collection of flying vintage airplanes and are always acquiring and restoring more so it's an interesting place to hang out.

the super is a little bigger than the skyraider2 and has dual controls, the reinforcement I was talking about is in the spar about where the struts attach.

OK, so the Super is pretty much similar to a Ridge Runner Model 3S which also has dual controls. Incidentally, there's a complete new kit for one of those for sale on their site at a substantial discount. Not sure what's happening there.

I'll see if I can ascertain if my airplane has the spar reinforcement next time I'm up at the airstrip.

Bandit, maybe you can give some impressions of the Sky Raider when you've flown it a bit. Turns out My Ridge Runner was nose heavy when I bought it. I only got a few short flights totaling less than 1 hour before the engine quit and I found out (the hard way) what happens when you dead stick a nose heavy airplane.

Since the Skyraider 1 and the Ridge Runner 2 are basically the same airplane, the nose on yours look a lot shorter than mine which could be a reason (Mine has a 503 DCDI, electric start.)

ABF  Do you have spar inserts in your wing? I have the factory super and it does not have any inserts just wondering if I need them.

If you mean the steel reinforcing inside the spar where the pin goes through from the headrack tube, then yes.

What's a "factory super"?

Looks very nice.

I have a Ridge Runner Model 2, very similar to that, not flying right now as it's in need of some repairs.

Nice to see you got the proper wing supports with it, too. Mine got towed by the PO from Wisconsin  to S. Ontario without using any supports and I don't think that does them much good.

Another name for the ply is 'Baltic Birch'. It's very similar to aircraft ply but a lot cheaper to buy.

I've used it on various car restorations and it's very nice stuff to work with. You'd need to find a specialty wood dealer..,not the kind of thing HD sells.