WELCOME!
This website is to log my progress while building a Sonex airplane. I purchased the plans for
Sonex S/N 767 and began construction around Christmas 2004. I would like to keep my costs down
and am currently considering the AeroVee engine. I'm leaning strongly towards tricycle gear.
I've finally settled on using an AeroVee engine and going with the tricycle gear. I know,
everyone thinks a Sonex should be built with a tail wheel but I like the tricycle gear and I'm
sticking with it.
Builders Log Entries
30 Inch Bending Brake Purchase
Type of Work: Tooling
Category: Tooling
Manual Reference:
Today I purchase a 30" bending brake. The local Princess Auto store has these for $79.00 dollars (Canadian). I picked this one up in Hamilton, Ontario. It looks pretty sturdy and should do the job for all of the small parts. I plan on purchasing the pre-bent metal kit so I only need the brake for small parts. It was made in China but the quality is reasonable.
Getting ready to open the box
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Inside the box (well covered in plastic and oil)
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Ready for clean-up
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Wing Ribs
Type of Work: Construction
Category: Tooling
Manual Reference:
Over the last few days I have continued deburring the Wing Ribs. I got to the point where I had 10 left to deburr. At this point I decided I needed to make the -01 through -05 wing ribs. I marked each according to the plans. Drilled a new 1/4" relief hole and then made the extra cutout using the Andy Snips. I now have 10 ribs ready to be deburred.
Made New Clamp Bars For The Bending Brake
Type of Work: Tooling
Category: Tooling
Manual Reference:
Today I purchased a couple of lengths of 3/8" x 2-1/2" cold finished flat bar from the Metal Supermarket. I had one piece cut to 15" long and I had one piece 30" long. From the 30" long piece I cut a 2-1/2" long piece. Next I ground a 10 degree angle along one edge. I finished the edge with a file and then put a 1/8" radius on the edge. The 3/8" clamp bar replaces the 1/2" that came with the brake. This allows me to form tighter bends when they are in the same direction as required for the elevator ribs. I also made sure that I radius the top edge so that it would not dig into the first flange when forming two tight 90 degree flanges.
New clamp bar
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First flange formed
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Ready for the next bend
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The second bend formed. Only the thinner clamp bar allows this.
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Another view of the tight bend. (What looks to be a crack in the radius is just a sharpie mark)
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The formed end flange
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Using a custom shortened clamp bar for the end flange
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Wing Storage Rack
Type of Work: Construction
Category: Tooling
Manual Reference:
With my small workspace (single car garage) I needed a place to store completed parts. Today I designed and built a wall mounted wing storage rack.
Wing Storage Rack
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Cleaning Up Wing Skins
Type of Work: Construction
Category: Tooling
Manual Reference: SNX-W18
I continued deburring the holes in the leading edge wing skins. After finishing the deburring I took a look at my large drill press in order to figure out what is required to get it ready to drill the large holes in the wing spars.
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