Local pilot Roger Smith standing in his Lightning XS, a composite airframe with a Titan IO-340 engine and all Garmin instrumentation. Courtesy photo
Northern New Mexico Chapter 691:
Northern New Mexico Chapter 691 of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) will meet Saturday, May 17 at the Los Alamos Airport, and feature a presentation by Roger Smith entitled “Advanced Techniques for Aircraft Composites”.
The meeting, open to all interested, will begin at 9:30 a.m. in the terminal building with coffee, pastries and informal discussion, followed by a short business meeting at 10 a.m. and the presentation, beginning at 10:30 a.m. Smith’s hangar at the west end of the airport.
Smith has been a persistent presence at the Los Alamos Airport since he earned his private pilot license in 1980. A native of Indiana, he grew up building and flying model airplanes, starting with tissue covered, balsa frame, control line models and progressing through radio-controlled versions. Smith began his college studies in Aeronautical Engineering, but a round of layoffs by Boeing and other Aerospace companies led him to reconsider that path, ultimately leading to studies in Mechanical Engineering.
While working at International Harvester, a trip out west led to an interview and job offer at Los Alamos, where he worked for 17 years as a mechanical designer, on projects including Antares, Helios and Aurora, as well as satellites and spacecraft: Stereo, Caccini, Fermi Gama Ray Detector and Forte. He was the principal mechanical designer for the early LIGO gravity wave detector. He subsequently worked for 13 years at HyTec, where he worked on STEREO, Fermi Gamma Ray detector, and LIGO and for the last 10 years as an engineer at NSTec/MSTS.
Early in his flying career he became the proud owner and restorer of a 1946 Taylorcraft, a side by side, two seat vintage taildragger designed by the creator of the Piper Cub. As his family grew he needed a back seat, so he moved to a 1959 Piper Tri Pacer, one of the first “modern” aircraft to employ tricycle landing gear. He completed a ground-up restoration of the aircraft in 2011, and again after the plane suffered extensive hail damage.
In 2015 he took a demo ride in a Lightning XS, a fast, sleek, composite experimental aircraft. A few months later he received the kit. In April of 2019 the plane received its airworthiness certificate, and Smith has been flying it ever since. Smith’s planes on the EAA Chapter 691website at (https://www.eaachapter691.org/projects/member-projects/roger-smith/), or more detailed descriptions on his own webpage at (https://rlsmith3.wixsite.com/rogersplanes)
Smith’s presentation and demonstration will focus on techniques for using epoxy resin and fiberglass or carbon fiber fabrics to produce composite parts for aircraft that are strong, light, and have a fine finish. Adopting the format of a cooking show, he will review the epoxy “recipe” and demonstrate the techniques for layup of the cloth in an epoxy bed on a form or a damaged part. This is followed by a “hand rubbing” step to smooth contours of the still-wet part and to remove bubbles or excess resin. If the necessary equipment is available and an optimal finish is desired, a “vacuum bagging” technique is used to remove any excess resin.
Since the curing process can take hours to days, Smith has previously prepared parts to allow participants to see and feel the finished product. The presentation will describe the sources of supplies and will demonstrate the use of chopped fiber “flox” or glass micro-balloons in resin to fill surface imperfections.
The use of G10 fiberglass or aluminum plates to produce hardpoints for component attachment will be discussed. Special techniques to prevent galvanic corrosion when conductive carbon fiber is used in conjunction with metal inserts will be described.
About EAA Chapter 691:
EAA Chapter 691 (EAAChapter691.org) is a 501(c)(3) organization with objectives to support and promote general aviation, flight safety, and R&D on emerging technologies including electric aircraft. It also focuses on education on aircraft construction and maintenance, STEM education for youth, and providing opportunities for introductory flights through the Young Eagles program.