Sonex 612 (N115DM) First Flight!

[vernd]

Holy crap. I'd better kick it up a notch. I should be next to fly (#613) - but still a ways away.
Congratulations on a such a major undertaking. Look forward to seeing some photos / videos.

Vern

[rkurian]

I realize my first post was a bit brief, but let me elaborate some on the first flight.
I received my A/W certificate on Friday, 4/10/2015. After the inspector left, and friend and I replaced all the inspection panels, cowling, etc, etc... then decided to taxi to the gas pumps to fuel up for an intended first flight on 4/11/2015.

I deplaned, my friend deplaned, and since it was breezy, I reminded him to close the canopy, which he did. Unfortunately he did not latch it, and during refueling, a strong gust of wind slammed the canopy open, putting a 9 inch split in it, and breaking the rear canopy bow. I couldn't believe that had happened. I removed the canopy and took it home to see what could be done. Since I scratch built, and knew how the canopy corners were made, and I had some left over 4130 tubing from that. I cut a 3 inch piece, and curved it slightly to match the curve of canopy bow. I had to straighten the bow out a bit since it got bend when it reached the end of the restraining cable travel. I leaned the ragged ends of the bow, inserted the steel tube inside and riveted it the same way I did the canopy corners. That fixed the bow.

I decided that the canopy itself needed a strong patch. I used silver tape and both sides of the crack, then sandwiched the whole thing between two pieces of aluminum. That I did, and used aluminum rivets to secure it in place, not wanting to use the SS ones since I didn't want to cause any more stress on it.

I returned to the hanger with the repaired canopy, and it actually seemed to fit just a bit better than before the incident. Go figure. I have already ordered a new canopy from Sonex, and my friend agreed to pay for it since it was his negligence that caused the problem. I hope I get the second canopy discount...

The next morning, the wind was calm, 2 kts from the south. Since I had been building and not flying, I wasn't current, and need to get my BFR finished, and some time in the air before flying my own plane, so a flight instructor (Shannon Knee) that had flown several different aircraft, including 2 other Sonex, agreed to do the first flight.

Even though the wind was from the south, he took off to the north because there are several open fields past the end of the runway in that direction, "just in case."

The engine has always sounded strong, and when he gave it full throttle, even going downwind he lifted of in less than 600 feet. What a feeling it was to see all that work finally take to the air. He climbed to 3000 feet (GPH is at 777) and circled overhead while going through the test card that I had prepared for him. Gentle 10 and 20 degree tunes, some slow flight, but only 10 degrees of flaps.

Upon landing, it seemed to float for a bit, and that's when we found out that when the engine was warmed up, it idled at 1200, so it wanted to keep on flying. Debrief showed that there was a slightly heavy left wing which went away when the flaps were deployed, that that should be easy to fix. It also needs a rudder trim tab, as he had to maintain slight pressure on the left rudder peddle to keep the ball centered.

Communications with the FlightLine radio was good in both directions. He did not experience any ignition interference when receiving, and his transmission were load and clear on the ground.

The next day I pulled the cowling and inspection plates to make sure nothing came loose, and to check for any fluid leaks. All was good. The Aerovee engine performed flawlessly, all temps and oil pressure remained within specs.

I'm really looking forward to getting up in the air myself.

[Bryan Cotton]

Looks great Ray! Busted canopy and all! Good story too, goes to show you never give up.

[jmtraylor]

Congratulations.