EAA Airventure Museum

EAA/SCALED COMPOSITES SpaceShipOne PHOTO GALLERY

Scaled Composites test pilot Mike Melvill (far left) and other Scaled employees volunteered their time and materials to make the fiberglass components used to create EAA’s SpaceShipOne replica

Like a giant plastic model, the 24 fiberglass components used to create EAA’s SpaceShipOne replica are laid out at the Scaled Composites facility at Mojave, California.

The components used to make EAA’s SpaceShipOne replica arrive at the AirVenture Museum in January 2006

The fiberglass components used to make EAA’s SpaceShipOne replica are laid out and cleaned prior to assembly

The first step in constructing EAA’s SpaceShipOne replica was to locate, scribe, and cut out the window portals and main door hatch on the fuselage halves

Once the windows and door were cut out, the two halves of the fuselage were strapped together and placed in a large wooden cradle

Once the fuselage was in its cradle, the two halves were fiberglassed together with long fiberglass strips epoxied to the center section of the fuselage around its exterior and interior

While the fuselage came together, work began on engineering the main spar and feathering attachments for the wing

One of the horizontal stabilizers is fiberglassed together

The main spar is added to the fuselage

With the main spar in place, the top of each wing was added to the fuselage using a framework of wood

Structural hard points were added to the tail and nose of the fuselage and it was placed in a large rotisserie so that it could be spun around for easy access to all sides

After the fuselage was placed on the rotisserie, it was rotated upside-down and the wings were completed by adding wooden ribs to the top skin of each wing and then fiberglassing on the bottom skins

The wings and tail booms come together. Wooden ribs were added to each of the pieces to provide extra structural strength

Once all of the major components were assembled, they were sanded down to a smooth surface

After priming, the parts were all assembled and sanded down to a smooth finish.

With all the components assembled and sanded, they were primed with a two-part epoxy primer

A final testing of the feathering hardware is completed before one last trip to the spray booth for the last three coats of primer. Like the original, EAA’s replica was only finished in primer.

Two additional coats of primer were added to the replica with sanding between each coat to ensure a glossy smooth finish before the final coat

The final coat of primer is added to each part before final detailing is added.

The blue vinyl star pattern was the first detail added to the painted fuselage. This was applied by the same graphic artists that worked on the original SpaceShipOne. The pattern was used as a primary reference for placing all the other exterior details on the fuselage

EAA’s Curator of Exhibits Alan Westby used mixed paint to match the heat resistant coating seen on the original SpaceShipOne’s nose and the leading edges of its wings

Hundreds of walk around photos taken during SpaceShipOne’s visit to Oshkosh during the 2005 EAA AirVenture convention were used for reference to match every cosmetic detail on the replica

With all the detailing finished, the replica was moved out to the Museum’s Innovations Gallery and hung from the ceiling

SpaceShipOne Serial #2 hangs on display in the AirVenture Museum’s Innovations Gallery

EAA’s SpaceShipOne replica is currently the only one in the world that demonstrates the original’s feathering feature for carefree reentry from space