Proud new owner of Sonex plans!

[samiam]

Hello all,

I am happy to say that I am the proud new owner of Sonex plans #1405! I got my plans a few days ago and am very excited. I plan to get the complete kit, and will likely also go with the Corvair 120hp per Wynne (lots of inspiration from Dale on that decision).

So I think it's fair to say that right now, having spent a few days looking at the plans, I'm in the "overwhelmed" feeling stage. I know this will pass and I just need to take things one part, one page at a time. My question is how to get started.

As I will not be ordering my kit for a few more months, I had planned on using the plans to get started building some of the angle pieces. I was going to order some angle from Spruce and start working, because that's all I can do right now. My question is, does this seem like a good idea? Also, it seems to me that I would not want to put any pilot holes in the pieces, because what if they then did not line up with the perfectly CNC machined pieces from Sonex that they will be attaching to?

Thanks for your help with this, and likely many newbie questions to come, in advance!

[Bryan Cotton]

Congratulations samiam and welcome to the fold! If you are a Terminator, like in the movie then by all means download the coordinates and drill the holes now. If you are just regular flesh and blood then I would transfer from existing holes!

I have often thought I could be a more efficient builder if I was a terminator, but that would probably cut into my payload.

It does seem like a reasonable low cost way to get a jump on things. I would look for a local supplier where you could buy 6061 extrusion from - not Lowes Depot but a supplier that will give you mill certs, which is the paperwork for the batch of extrusion that documents tested material properties. I bought twice as much angle as I needed for my hummelbird because it was so cheap, in bulk 25' lengths. It was cheap insurance against mistakes. Don't mention airplanes.

[EricS]

Hi samiam,

Keep in mind that if you are going to buy the complete kit, you'll have all the angle supplied (or the completed angle parts if you opt for the machined angle components kit). Like Bryan said, it's not a bad thing to have extra material laying around, but for the price of the material and shipping be careful how much material you buy because you may end up with tons of extra sitting on the shelf.

I purchased the complete kit and have only had to order a small section of extruded angle because I messed up a part, but I did have the machined angle kit also. I've messed up many more of the formed parts, but that will be less of an issue for you with the newer kit due to all the pre-cut matched-hole parts. My kit that was originally delivered in 2010 an only had stock formed channel which required much more layout and cutting.

[Rynoth]

Samiam, it's a good idea. The extrusion is probably one of the least expensive materials (at least that I've come across so far) so you'll be saving a ton of time later on for not that much money now. I don't have my packing list in front of me but there is more of certain types of angle than others... most is the 1x1" angle iirc. You could keep yourself busy for a good while just making pieces that call for 1x1".

Do not drill the pilot holes, you're correct. Mark the pilot holes per the plans and call it good until the part is actually called for in the plans. Almost all the holes I've drilled so far in parts I've made were to match laser drilled holes, so I learned early on to just mark them and check against the mating part before drilling anything.