Paul from Georgia

[onexpaul]

Hello Sonex Builders,

I'm a new pilot, having earned a PPL a year ago this month. At the end of May 2015 my teenage son and I attended the Sonex Builders' Workshop #60 which I highly recommend.

On Saturday I bought and moved Onex #113 project from South Carolina to my garage just outside of Athens, GA. The airframe has the tail, wings, and fuselage put together. There are still lots of little loose ends. The fuselage belly and inboard wings need to have skins riveted on. The trim system, glareshied, windshield, canopy, and fuel tank are not installed yet. All the fairing need to be formed. There are various scratches that I'll need to polish out. There are several issues that I think are related to the original builder not realizing there were revisions posted online. The engine, prop, and instruments will have to be purchased when funds allow.

After spending the last several days going through and also gazing at the plans I'm trying to figure out where to start ? There seems to be a lot of collective wisdom here so I love to hear any suggestions.

The obvious things I was think of addressing are:
-seatbelt shoulder harness need to be moved aft to the next former (this is a machine angle kit)
-the elevator push rod openings in formers need to be cleaned up, they are sort of roughly expanded to allow full travel
-there might be missing rivets or maybe missing flange in the forward horizontal stabilizer piece (seems like there is a discussion on this)
-the rudder cable is rubbing against a vertical piece about where my calf would touch against inside when sitting

I'll print out the whole Onex Revision Log Archive and try to match them against the plans to understand if the builder included them or not, maybe cutting little strips of paper and affixing to each page of the plans. Not sure if this makes sense.

I'm just glad to be getting started.

Paul Montello
Onex #113 tri-gear project

[Gripdana]

If it were me after noting all the revisions on the proper plans pages. Then I would start on the last page of the plans and work my way to the front as if I were starting from the beginning of the build. Make a note on the plans and double check what has been done and if it is according to the plans. When I built my Sonex I used a highlighter to mark each part I made and each assembly. I also kept a note pad of items that I need to go back to finish. This would give you a good look at what has been done and get you more familiar and comfortable with the plans. Just my 2 cents.

[vwglenn]

Welcome. Don't know very much about building as I bought my Sonex complete. But I am based out of Griffin and am pretty handy to have around if you need an extra set of hands.

[onexpaul]

Thanks Glenn. I hope to see you around at a local pancake breakfast sometime !

Paul