Scott's Sonex 1629 - N629SX

[ScottM-Sonex1629]

It's been almost two weeks since my last post...and about that long since I did anything. Not totally true but very little has been done. Life has been busy with a new Boy Scout Troop for my son (and myself...decided to get back into adult leadership).

Started on the fairings for the tail surfaces. Didn't like how the aluminum was turning out, so I'm going in the direction Jeff Schultz took with his two builds. A 1-piece fiberglass fairing.



So you have to start by filling the void with clay to create a shape to mold the fiberglass to...






Hopefully after a few layers of BID cloth, and resin, it looks like this.

[ScottM-Sonex1629]

A bunch of little things completed this week...with a big finish.

I molded all of the "play dough" on Wednesday night, only to find out when I came home from work Thursday it all shrunk, and curled up. Oh well....back to plan A (the metal fairing). By Friday night I had both sides finished.




What next? Prep and fill the edges of the tips.



So where I am going with this you ask? I've decided on my finish / paint scheme!

[ScottM-Sonex1629]

Over the last few weeks I ordered some single stage paint, and prep materials. Based on some others posts and research I chose to use PreKote for preparing the Aluminum for paint. I chose to take the tail apart and prep individually and paint the pieces separately.

The PreKote is easy to use, clean the aluminum first, then spray the PreKote on the surface, and scrub/scour the surface with a red scotch brite pad. Spray a second time and repeat the process, then rinse with water then let dry. I did this yesterday.



The directions say to prime within 24 hours so today I got out my Sherwin Willams (automotive paint) Dimension DP800 epoxy primer. It's a 3-part primer. Good stuff. I was worried it had been on my shelf too long but it stirred up okay and seems to be curing just fine. (8-parts epoxy primer, 4-parts reducer, 1-part hardener).

I have sprayed out the rudder, elevator, vertical stabilizer and the fairings. Still need to remove and prep/prime the horizontal stabilizer.







When I do the color coat my plan is to make a small booth inside my garage. I've painted three cars like this before, and based on how small of the parts I needed to prime today I didn't bother with a controlled environment. I am in no rush to top coat, so I will scuff up the primer before applying color.

[ScottM-Sonex1629]

Last item I worked on and installed this weekend was the dual control stick.

[Bryan Cotton]

Last thing this weekend? Still 7 hours left on east coast time!

Looks great!

[ScottM-Sonex1629]

LOL! Bryan, I'm still human, and quit working on the plane around 1:45 PM today. I actually went flying today with Steve in his Waiex (it's running good now after his LCH mod). Today's posts are a culmination of about 4 days work (a few hours here and there).

I would like to unbolt the horizontal stabilizer and do the PreKote prep on this maybe tonight.

[ScottM-Sonex1629]

Completed the aluminum prep on the horizontal stabilizer last night using the same steps with PreKote. Today I was able to get away from work a little early and make use of the great fall weather. The horizontal stabilizer now has two coats of Sherwin Williams DP800 Epoxy on it.





A close up showing the coverage around the rivets, and the surface texture from the epoxy sprayed on.


And a look at what it takes to mix and spray 2K epoxy with an HVLP gun...

[Rynoth]

Scott, I'm working on my control sticks today... it seems to me that when putting the cross-tie in that attaches the aileron interfaces together per the plans, it will cause that cross-tie to impact the tab for the trim system at the top-middle of the assembly (rather than using the stops that are built into the control horns themselves.) Are you experiencing this or did you find a workaround?

[ScottM-Sonex1629]

Ryan I didn't have this problem on mine, but I did see another builder with the same issue. I think he bent the tab up you are referring to until the interference was resolved

[Rynoth]

Ryan I didn't have this problem on mine, but I did see another builder with the same issue. I think he bent the tab up you are referring to until the interference was resolved

Thanks, yes I was able to bend the tab up about 30 degrees for clearance. It's just an attach point for the trim spring so I'm not too concerned about its strength.