SonexBuilders.net

Not to be a buzzkill, but just wait until you get to the cowling....

Looking good Bryan!


Robbie Culver
Sonex 1517
Chicagoland
Tails and Wings complete - finishing fuselage.
N1517S reserved

Sonex1517 wrote:Not to be a buzzkill, but just wait until you get to the cowling....

Robbie Culver
Sonex 1517
Chicagoland
Tails and Wings complete - finishing fuselage.
N1517S reserved

Robbie, makes me want to sell my standard cowling and get the new improved version. I dislike fiberglassing too.

At the risk of asking a dumb question, is there any reason why the wingtips can't be sheet metal? I haven't made them yet, so of course I don't know if that would be easier or not.

Mike,
You could. The thought crossed my mind. It would be hard. Most of it is a flat plate, but the flanges form a very complicated contour. If you had CNC coordinates and could make a couple form blocks then it would not be too bad.

samiam wrote:At the risk of asking a dumb question, is there any reason why the wingtips can't be sheet metal? I haven't made them yet, so of course I don't know if that would be easier or not.

The Sonex plans have a page on scratch building metal wingtips and I've been told by those who have done them that it's an easy piece to fabricate. As an added bonus they're lighter than the fiberglass ones. A lot of the older Sonexes have them.

I am not sure my Waiex plans have them. Are they available anywhere else?

No pictures but I am done messing with the wingtip for now. Got all the pilot holes drilled. Still have a lot of bondo and finish work. I may try to make form blocks for a metal tip.

Finished fitting the lens for my Fresh Aero LE light. I really like the kit. I did a few things different. They tap the aluminum retainers for screws. I have decided to use nutplates and flush #6 screws. Also I realized the outside left and right edges bowed out, and I trimmed them for a better fit. Overall I recommend the kit.

Back to metalwork.

Bryan Cotton wrote:I am not sure my Waiex plans have them. Are they available anywhere else?

Our plans don't since the fiberglass tips are included in the kit. Is there a local Sonex builder local to you so that you could look at their plans? I think even the new Sonex plans still include the info for scratch building metal tips.

Finally got the root ribs drilled in. I made a special super low profile bit out of a 1/4-20 bolt (just the thread section) with a hole in the middle and a snip of a #40 bit pressed in. Made that for the Hummelbird ribs 10 years ago. Unfortunately the bit snapped, fortunately on the last hole where I really needed it. On the aft rib forward angle and the forward rib I just piloted some of the holes. The root rib angle interferes with some of the skin to spar holes, so I have to remove my nicely torqued bolts to clearance them. While they are out I will finish the drilling job.


I needed shims under the aileron bellcrank structure. I will mark the shims and trim them. I may flush rivet the shims to the angles so they don't get lost.

The wing is coming back apart to finish some details. Then deburring, edge finishing, and polishing. Storage is becoming an issue. I used some strapping tape to close the LE a bit and found this space:


With no helper present I had to flip the skeleton and found this was the easiest way: