Rudder

Rudder control horn primed and ready for assembly.  Rudder interior parts are primed and the skin is primed where those interior parts touch.

Rudder complete!

Horizontal Stab and Elevators Complete

Here is the completed horizontal stabilizer and elevators.  Shortly after this pic I installed the elevator control horn and hung the whole assembly up on the wall in the garage making room for the next step.

Horizontal Stab and Elevators

It's been awhile since my last post.  The elevators are complete with hinges installed.  They went together very quick and easy with no hiccups.  I've been installing the Cherry rivets by hand without a pneumatic riveter.  It's a workout but manageable.  I'm impressed with these rivets.  They aren't flush but I still like the look of stainless steel.  Also I was shocked to find out they are TWICE as strong as the equivalent sized solid aluminum rivets.  The elevator control horn has also been riveted and set aside until the last step where it attaches both elevators while installed on the horizontal stab.

The horizontal stabilizer skeleton is complete and primed.  This took a while to line up, clamp, double check measurements, make sure it's right, triple check measurements and finally drill and cleco.  In the end I remade several ribs because the width of some of the preformed rib channels were slightly smaller than the preformed spar channels.  I didn't want any unsightly bumps in the polished skins so I took the time to fix it.

Here is a shot of the structure just before closing it up for good.  You can see the skins only got zinc phosphate where they touch the fully primed skeleton.

This is the current status.  Left HS complete and working on the skin on the right side.  All the holes are drilled, just have to debur, prime and rivet.  I may be taking a bit of a break after this step.  Our second baby is due in a week and I'm sure I'll be spending a lot of time away from the project with baby girl.

Tail Assembly Begins

I finally got through the house stuff, at least enough to get me by until spring.  I built my workbench and finished all the individual parts except for the hinges.  I need to order the hardware kits from Spruce to get the hinge stock and I've started on the tail.  Elevators and the rudder skins are trimmed to size and the pilot holes drilled.  Started on the individual assemblies, this is the elevator control horn.

Here is the control horn and the elevator skins.

 The rudder control horn.

This is the main spar assembly in the vertical stabilizer.  I'm going to finish fitting, drilling and deburring all the parts in the tail.  Then I'll put a thin coat of zinc chromate on and I'll be ready to rivet it all together.  Having pre-built the individual parts is making this go very fast.

Bringing It Home!

I haven't posted an update in a while.  The project has slowed due to the fact that I finally got a transfer back to CLT.  I've wanted to work there since I decided to be a controller and it's taken 6 years to get it.  So I've been busy fixing up the house in hopes of selling it in the next 8 months.  I have been able finish all 56 ribs and I've logged 76% of the total parts as complete.  As soon as the house is up to par I need to build a work bench and start assembling the tail.

Parts and Pieces

I've finished all the angle and channel parts and rearranged my work space to accommodate the completed parts on the shelves above my work bench. I've decided to work on the main skins at the time of assembly to keep me from moving these big pieces in and out of storage.





I'm now tackling the arduous task of deburring the wing ribs.  There is ONLY 52 of them!  Twenty six nose ribs and 26 aft ribs.  Each one isn't all that bad, but 52 of them is not fun. 

The welded parts come completed with the kit. So after this big, monotonous step I have the turtle deck formers (ribs for the round upper part of the rear fuselage) and the firewall/stainless steel parts to debur.  Also, on my breaks at work, I'll be drawing the flat sheet parts to be cut out of scrap channel and supplied sheet. After all that, I think, I repeat, I think I'll be done with the individual parts and ready to move on to assembly.  Oh yeah, I need to build a work table prior to that.  Maybe someday I'll be about to see some resemblance of an airplane.

Parts and Pieces

Still working on the channel parts.  I've finished most if not all of the cutting.  All I have left is a few parts to deburr and a few flanges to bend and I'll be ready to move on.  Here is a shot of the flange bending process.

I'm using an excel part list off the yahoo group SonexTalk to keep track of which parts I've completed.  Today I completed the 367th part which puts me passed the 50% mark.  Now this doesn't mean I'm halfway through the build, just that I've completed half of the individual parts.  Here's a shot of a batch of channel parts waiting to be marked complete.

Parts and Pieces

I'm still cutting, drilling and deburring channel parts. With limited shop time in the summer I try to make use of every spare minute. So far this is has been my workshop for about 80% of the project. I use my work breaks to deburr. You'd be surprised how much you can accomplish in the passenger seat 20 minutes at a time.

Parts and Pieces

Here is tonight's contribution. Stayed up late and finished two parts that I've been putting off for a while. These are parts to the brake system.

Welcome

Well I'm getting a late start on this so let's get caught up. I built most of the airframe of a Vans RV-7 a couple years ago. I got to the point where I could either spend a lot of money and finish the plane or pull the plug. I sold it to a guy in England of all places and after more than a year of ruling out other hobbies I joined a local flying club and started flying again after a six year hiatus. It wasn't long before thoughts of owning an aircraft started bouncing around in my head again. Actually the thoughts were always there I just could not justify the expense. After a year of exploring the type of flying I actually enjoy, I began looking for an aircraft that was relatively inexpensive to own and operate and good for fun, fair weather, local flying with an occasional trip away from home. I found Sonex Aircraft. I had seen them at Sun-n-Fun several years ago but was lured away by the 200 mph cruise at the Vans Aircraft booth. It took the better part of a decade to realize how expensive that extra speed can be and that there are other more affordable options. Bottom line, speed and travel are not requirements for me and the extra 30 minutes spent in the plane on the occasional long trip isn't a bad thing. After all, the flying is the fun part!

So here we go again, round two, this time building a Sonex. I actually got started back in January when I bought plans # 1286 from a guy in Louisiana. Then I ordered the aluminum angle bundle to get a head start on the build while I saved for the complete kit. I finished all the angle parts prior to receiving the airframe kit on May 18th. After unpacking and storing all the parts I decided to start on the channel pieces and now you're up to speed. I haven't taken many pictures yet only because all I have so far is a bunch of individual parts. As a result of lessons learned on the last project, I'm attacking this build with a mass production approach. It's much faster to build all the similar parts at the same time (ex. angle parts) before moving on to a different process.

So right now I'm working on the channel parts. Next I will probably go through the plans completing ALL the rest of the individual pieces before starting on the main assemblies. More to come!