Forward Visibility

[radfordc]

I have now done over 560 landings so it can't be that bad, but to my mind it is a major flaw in the design.

That "design flaw" may be why you can go 130 mph with a VW engine.

[Paul Johnson]

Good Point.

[peter anson]

That "design flaw" may be why you can go 130 mph with a VW engine.

I doubt if the long tapered windshield improves the aerodynamics that much. If it was that effective we could reduce the drag on wheel pants by putting long tapered points on the front and even reduce wing drag by having longer tapered leading edges. You obviously don't want a jeep windshield but what seems to work best for low drag is a teardrop shape, and there are practical considerations, like being able to see where you are going.
Peter

[rizzz]

That "design flaw" may be why you can go 130 mph with a VW engine.

I doubt if the long tapered windshield improves the aerodynamics that much. If it was that effective we could reduce the drag on wheel pants by putting long tapered points on the front and even reduce wing drag by having longer tapered leading edges. You obviously don't want a jeep windshield but what seems to work best for low drag is a teardrop shape, and there are practical considerations, like being able to see where you are going.
Peter

I think John Monnett actually confirms this in the B model presentation.
He is asked if the B-model would produce more drag given the shape of the fuselage is less "pointy" now (not sure what the actual word was that was used in the question).
John answered that because the width at the widest point hasn't changed it's irrelevant (again he used different wording which I cannot remember correctly).

[Paul Johnson]

I do not want this thread to go negative as the Sonex is a very sporty aircraft and compares highly with the RV in that role. In the original post I said that I had acquired this aircraft so I could evaluate the Sonex in depth whilst I was building the B model. I have sat in the B model and found it to be a good fit but at that time I had relatively no experience of the forward visibility of Sonex, so I was not looking at the aircraft from that aspect. I have noticed from video's that it appears the seat is much lower in the B model and some of the video shots through the windshield are of an acceptable forward view. The aircraft that I have does not have the lower seat mod so I do sit about as high as one could without being restricted by the canopy,

[mike.smith]

Hi Paul, I agree with Art's advice, especially about painting the exposed parts of the firewall.

Ditto. I have a nearly flat black fabric on my glare shield, and flat black paint on the forward part of the firewall that extends above the glare shield (one of the best decisions I made early on).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OP_xN9Vdp8w
I don't find the front wind screen to be an issue, even the times I've done a little flying at night. It's really the length of the nose; psychologically I'm always straining to look over the nose. Nothing you can do about that. I just remember that a P-51 suffers from the same thing, so good heritage. :-)

[Corby202]

The windshield does distort the forward view a little but I have not found it to be a problem.
The bigger problem is getting the correct covering on the glare shield and upper firewall. I covered mine initially with lightweight carpet which I thought would not reflect anything. At certain Sun positions it reflected badly around the firewall area, it was very noticeable from video if I had a camera along. After trying different types of material, the fabric that worked the best was a black felt type of material sold on EBAY as a speaker box lining.

[Paul Johnson]

I have a friend who used to own a company that manufactured speakers, he has rolls of the fabric so I will give it a go. As I did not build this Sonex is it just a case of removing the screws and the wind screen will come out so as to make it easier to install the fabric and apply the paint? The other thing I have noticed is that the wind shield is of a darker tint than the canopy, I have searched through the internet for images some seem darker and some don't but I guess this could be just the light.

[DCASonex]

Plain black felt from local fabric shop. Held in place with the hook side of 3/4" wide adhesive backed Velcro applied to perimeter of glare shield and up along upper curved arc of firewall. Let sides of felt sick up enough to cover nuts at bottom edge of windshield. Quick, easy, removable, and effective eliminating glare.

David A. Sonex TD