SonexBuilders.net

Post pictures of your current build status here.

XenosTed here. Xenos 032 has been flying since Apr 2010. more later. Questions/comments welcome. pics etc later.

It's great to have you here, Ted. Looking forward to pics and videos of you and Nancy planing air with or without power... :P

Hey Ted!

Here's one of Ted's Xenos videos:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-skLrqRQc8

edit: embedded video - chris

I hit a major milestone - I finished riveting my left main spar this past weekend. One down, one to go. I used a squeezer on the outboard end and my 3x rivet gun on the wide sparcap end. The squeezer was very slow & wore me out. I am just going to use the gun on the right spar. Once it came out of the jig holding it straight, the outboard end curved back some. If I laid it on its side, gravity straightened it out so I am thinking when I jig it back up to skin it, it will hold position. How did this work for you? Was your spar straight after riveting at the outboard end?

I also bought a Jabiru 3300 engine last week. Its a new engine still in the crate & in the shipping plastic. It has been in a hangar in storage out west where the air is dry. It was a total stroke of luck that I came across the ad for it just after it was posted for sale. I rarely get lucky but I did this time.

Where are you other builders on your projects?

Rick in FLA

Rick,
Bob here from VA. I think I met you at the FL. Sonex fly in after S&F. I am building Xenos #59. Had the same bend after riveting my spar. Called Kerry, he said not to worry. I am pilot drilling the skins. Sure enough, the spar straightened out as I aligned the outboard skin. I had the same problem with riveting the spar. Ended up using an air riveter (3x) for most of the spar. Much easier than trying to squeeze them. I think Bob (from FL) is also at about the same spot on his build. This wing is taking forever!

The spar will straighten out when you skin the wing. by pulling the rear spar to line up with the trailing edge of the skin you will drag the entire structure into alignment thus straightening the spar.

Thanks for the reply Bob & Bill. Good to get confirmation the spar curve is normal. Yea, Bob, I do remember you when you were here. I think about all of us Xenos builders were there that day. I am thinking I'll be working on wings until next year. I hope the rt. spar goes faster. I spent 3 weekends just riveting. Now I know not to waste my time squeezing rivets.

I'm thinking I might want to make some foam/carbon wingtips. That will take a lot of motivation but those gelcoated fiberglass wingtips are monsters. I used to make carbon sailboards back in my windsurfing days that were bigger than those wingtips & weighed half as much. That gelcoat is heavy. I'll see when the time comes.

Rick in FLA

Rick,
I started on the rt. wing the end of Feb. Just now pilot drilling for the skins. I hope the left one goes faster! Had to redo my two car garage and build the wing on a diagonal. Still a close fit with tools, benches, and me. Only room for my HD, no cars or trucks!
Bob in VA

Bob,

Well, the good thing is you don't have to drive anywhere to work on the project. Those wings are big! The space I have in the hangar is better than when I built the RV6 in the garage but I only get out there on weekends. That really slows the progress. My goal is to finish before retirement & I have to wait until the next decade rolls around before that happens. Anyway, I'm not in a hurry since I have my RV6 to fly.

I'll put up some photos soon. You should do the same, I'd like to see some on your wings, esp. since you are working on here I'm headed next.

Rick