Several years ago Aircraft Spruce and Specialty CO. of Corona California announced its sponsorship of an aircraft design contest that had as its goal the development of new homebuilt aircraft that could easily be built from scratch, from plans and/or building instructions and commonly available raw materials. Not everyone can afford a kit, so the contest was intended to produce interesting new aircraft that could be built as customers could afford to purchase materials.  The 1995 Scratch Build Design Contest began as a paper exercise, with drawings of the design being evaluated and the winner being announced at EAA's Oshkosh 95, hosted by the Experimental Aircraft Association in Oshkosh Wisconsin.  An entry-level aerobatics biplane, the Acrolite 1B designed by Ron Wilson of Murillo, Ontario was the winner.   This design won out over 102 entries from all over the world.  Aircraft Spruce sponsored the cost of building the airframe and the prototype aircraft was built in one year by Peter Eisenbach of Thunder Bay and Vern Ennis and Harold Spithoff of Kakabeka Falls Ontario.

   The completed Acrolite® made it to the 96 Convention and was showcased throughout the week in Aircraft Spruce and Speciality Co's outdoor display area adjacent to the new North Exhibit Hangar.

    The Acrolite® is a biplane that can be fabricated either as a scratch-build project or from a series of entirely complete material and hardware kits available from Aircraft Spruce and Specialty Co. The complete airframe kit can be ordered for under US$8000 not including engine.
 

 

Fuselage welded on bench.

912 Engine mounted in fuselage.

Completed fuselage and tail frame.

Landing gear being bent in hydraulic press.

     We have six months left to have the Biplane completed in order to get the test flying finished before we have to fly the plane to Oshkosh.  We are going to have to work very hard to make it in time.

 

Top Cowl and turtledeck.

Completed wing panel.

Mold plug for engine cowling.

Mounting the wings to the fuselage.

Aileron fitted to the wing.