Scott's Sonex 1629 - N629SX

[MichaelFarley56]

You're so close to being done with the wings Scott! Looking good and I'm sure you'll be done shortly.

Keep up the good work!

[ScottM-Sonex1629]

Today I reached a significant milestone in my build. I completed the riveting of the wing skins for the right wing - which means sheet SNX-W7 (wing box) is now complete for both RIGHT and LEFT wings!





I updated my drawing tree accordingly...so it's now time to move onto the rear Fuselage fabrication and assembly.



Not sure if I am halfway done on the aluminum build portion of the airframe, but I have reached this milestone at 241 hours of construction time!

[Sonex1517]

Excellent Scott! Great work!!! Congratulations.

Robbie


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[Rynoth]

Awesome!!! I'm putting the first rivets in my left wing skins as I type this.

I made a guesstimate a little while ago that when I finish my left wing I'll be about 50% done with the airframe, having already finished my empennage and aft fuselage. I'm at 434 hours. If you've finished both wings and your empennage, my guess is that you're also about halfway there.

[ScottM-Sonex1629]

Mike convinced me I should at least start polishing my lower wing sections. I debated doing this now or waiting but the weather was so nice today after I cleaned the garage up and washed the floors (it's been a hard winter and my epoxy floors were really dirty from snow melt and salt)...I thought what the heck and started to polish.

I am using Granitize and not Nuvite for my product. First pass is with the Titanium grit. I did about 3-4 passes with this on the leading edge and about 1/3 of the aft section. Final pass I buffed the polish out to the bare metal and then removed excess with a micro fiber cloth. I'm happy with the results so far!



Starting to get a clearer reflection...

[MichaelFarley56]

Looking great Scott! If you want some more practice, you're welcome to try the bottom of my wings anytime! Between yours, Steve's, Mark's and my planes, we're going to have the shiniest airplanes in central Ohio!

I hope you like the Granitize. I've had good results as well and will be using the same on the bottom surfaces of my plane once it warms up a little.

Now get started on the fuselage!! :mrgreen:

[mike.smith]

Awesome!!! I'm putting the first rivets in my left wing skins as I type this.

I made a guesstimate a little while ago that when I finish my left wing I'll be about 50% done with the airframe, having already finished my empennage and aft fuselage. I'm at 434 hours. If you've finished both wings and your empennage, my guess is that you're also about halfway there.

I thought that too, a very long time ago. The thing about the fuselage and wings is that they are large objects and seem like the bulk of the aircraft when you see them filling your shop. In reality (for me at least) that was nowhere near 50%. Controls, firewall, electrical, avionics, engine, fuel, gear, etc. took more time than the "big" things. So if after another 200 hours you feel like you haven't made progress, don't despair. Just keep banging away at it and you'll get there eventually. :-)

Mike Smith
#439
(Just a few weeks away from my airworthiness check, I hope!)

[Rynoth]

I thought that too, a very long time ago. The thing about the fuselage and wings is that they are large objects and seem like the bulk of the aircraft when you see them filling your shop. In reality (for me at least) that was nowhere near 50%. Controls, firewall, electrical, avionics, engine, fuel, gear, etc. took more time than the "big" things. So if after another 200 hours you feel like you haven't made progress, don't despair. Just keep banging away at it and you'll get there eventually. :-)

Mike Smith
#439
(Just a few weeks away from my airworthiness check, I hope!)

Hah, yea, which is why I say airframe in my guesstimate, or in other words, the Sonex(Waiex) complete airframe kit. At some point I'll need to scrounge up more $$$ to start pushing the rest of the complete aircraft forward (engine, instruments, nitty gritty). I was commenting in terms of Scott's reference to the aluminum build portion of the airframe.

[Sonex1462]

Looks Great!!! Keep up the good work. I try to only look at the next step, other wise I drive myself crazy.

[ScottM-Sonex1629]

Thanks for the comments guys! I try to look only at my current steps and stay focused. I've done as much polishing as I care to on this wing bottom for now, so I have prepped my ceiling to store this wing section.



As soon as my wife and son get home from shopping, I'm going to put them to work and hoist this wing into storage....and then onto the fuselage.

Oh, I also took advantage of the Sonex spring sale today and ordered my engine w/ pre-assembled crank shaft/prop hub. I'm going with the AeroVee 2.1. That should keep my motivated to continue pushing ahead with the fuselage,