Does anybody know the name, type and
 location of the first fiberglass air plane to fly?

 Paul Lamar

Windecker Eagle or Learfan?

Perry Mick

Wow! Perry I am impressed. That did not take long.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windecker_Industries

"Windecker Industries was a USA aircraft manufacturer originally founded
in 1962
as Windecker Research in Midland, Texas. It was the first company to
produce and
market powered aircraft built predominantly of composite materials (in
this
case, foam and fiberglass). The company was founded by Leo Windecker, a
dentist
from Lake Jackson, Texas."

"In 1965, the company delivered a pair of composite wings to Cessna
Aircraft
Company, where they were subjected to structural and flight testing on a
Cessna
182."

" Results proved promising, so the company built an experimental prototype
of
all-composite aircraft, the Windecker ACX-7 Eagle. Designed by Dr. Leo
Windecker
and his wife, Dr. Fairfax Windecker (also a dentist), the aircraft was
molded
from a unidirectional fiberglass called Fibaloy. The fuselage was made in
two
halves in full-size female molds and joined like a model kit; the wings
were
full core foam around a tubular fiberglass fuel tank, with wing skins
formed in
full-size female molds. The first prototype, constructed in the Midland
research
center, flew in October 1967."

"After a redesign of the empennage, the Eagle AC-7 became the first
composite
airplane to receive FAA certification, in December 1969. (A number of
composite
sailplane designs had been certified by the FAA as early as 1967.[2])
Windecker
went on to produce six civilian Eagles in the early 1970s."


I was in Midland and working for Jim Hall in 1965 that had already built a
fiberglass chassis race car.

http://www.chaparralcars.com/2e.php

"The first Chaparral was a small, lightweight, tubular-frame, Chevy
powered,
front-engined car designed and built by Troutman and Barnes in California.
While
it performed well, it didn't produce the overall results Jim wanted, so in
1962
Hall set out in his Midland, Texas shop to design and build an all new
car,
Chaparral 2."

"Chaparral 2 would be a mid-engine design to put more weight on the
driving
wheels, lower the center of gravity, reduce weight, and reduce frontal
area.
Hall reasoned that a fiberglass monocoque chassis, using fewer body parts,
would
be lighter and stiffer then a tubular steel space frame with full body
panels."

It was vacuum bagged fiberglass epoxy cured in an auto clave. It was
really
designed by Andy Green of General Dynamics Fort Worth.

http://www.ustempest.com/USTempest.com/Rebuild_of_US_160.html

"When he worked for General Dynamics, he was deeply involved in the
relatively
new field of composite construction of advanced aircraft.  Through his
work on
aircraft, Andy became a leading expert in composite construction."

"Andy found time in 1962 to design and build a revolutionary race-car
chassis
for Chaparral Cars in Midland, Texas.  A totally composite construction,
the
chassis was so much stiffer and lighter than a conventional metal chassis
that
General Motors sent a special team of engineers to inspect the chassis and
try
to figure out how it worked."

http://www.rotaryeng.net/monocoque.pdf


Paul Lamar

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Paul, thanks so much for your SCG piece from the 60's.  Man that brings back
some memories.  Everett and I read your piece back in the day.  Also, great
background on Andy Green.

A could of related questions.  What years were you at Chaparral?  What was
last year they used one of Andy's composite monocoque chassis? When Andy did
the Chaparral chassis, for hard points for suspension pieces, engine, etc.,
did he simply encapsulate metal in the sandwich or other? Was engine a
stressed member?  Also, later when they went to the Alcoa big block Chevy
and were using the aluminum monoc, did they try a composite tub for
comparison to the aluminum monocoque?

I remember that horrible shunt at Las Vegas when Jim Hall broke his legs.

Did Andy later do any other composite chassis for other teams?  Is he still
alive?

Steve Beckham

I think he got heavy into sail boats. He knew Ted Turner and may have been involved with the America's Cup.

Paul Lamar