pfhoeycfi wrote:...regarding the Sonerai fit I built the IIL, not the stretched, and fit fine at 215# and 6'.
Ha! It was bending the legs backwards to get my knees under the cross member between the front and back seats and over the spar carry-through that was the problem. I fit just great otherwise. Not many planes that size carry 610 pounds. I have the turtle deck up 2" too. The boys are much more limber than I am. Also less "portly" but still 6' 2" and taller.
The bottom half of the fuselage is gas welded. The rest is TIG. The difference is huge. The only way to regulate the heat with gas is to pull the torch away from the weld. That allows oxygen to rush in and the weld quality suffers. With TIG the heat is controlled by the foot pedal and the torch stays the same distance and thus the shielding gas does it's job.
I will probably use this fuselage as scrap aways. I am willing to cut it up despite all the hard work, sweat and tears. I almost can't make a bad weld with TIG. It is much slower but the quality is undeniable.
I don't miss the soot from gas! Terrible stuff. I am still cleaning it off my CNC machine 2 years later!