Sonex 1509 N454EE First Flight

[lpaaruule]

I finally flew my Sonex for the first time today!

https://youtu.be/evcL_ghgduw

It was quite a day. I met the FAA airworthiness inspector at 10am, and had the certificate before 11am. In the back of my mind I thought that there might be a possibility of flying, but I wasn't getting my hopes up. In Michigan this time of year the weather doesn't like to cooperate all the time. When I was a student pilot, I was getting close to doing my cross countries in December, and my instructor told me to come back in March.

I taxied over to the fuel pumps to fill up the fuel tank, and on the way back I noticed that my newly installed Carbon Monoxide detector had turned dark. Just what I needed on the day that I might fly.
My friend Mike and I began the process of determining where and how the fumes were entering. This took a couple hours and quite a bit of duct tape. I ended discovering that the fumes were coming in where the cowling “meets” the fuel fill portion of the firewall. I taped inside of the fuel filler, to the outside of the cowling. After some taxiing, and a NEW carbon monoxide card (you can see both on the instrument panel in the video), I decided it was safe to fly.

Having never even been a passenger in a Sonex before, the first flight had an ample amount of adrenaline. You can see me “jump” off the runway as soon as I get to full throttle. I guess I didn’t need to advance the throttle as slowly as I did.

The Sonex flew great. It was slightly left wing heavy, but that probably because I was sitting on the left side. The cowling’s side vents did their job on the Sonex A model. I’m guessing I’m the first Sonex A model to fly with side cooling vents like the Sonex B model has. We’ll see how they work in the summer.

I did have an issue with my airspeed. As meticulous as I was with “everything” else, I forgot to change from knots to mph. That confused me, and caused me to not trust the airspeed indicator. Hopefully all I need to change is a setting, but there might be something more going on.

I was extra nervous about carbon monoxide fumes, so when I started smelling fuel vapors I decided it was time to land. I think that I was smelling the few drops of fuel that I spilled in the cabin when filling the fuel tank. The firewall warmed up, and the fuel evaporated.

The landing was the part that I was most concerned with skill wise. I only have tailwheel time in a Citabria, and haven’t been flying for the last few years because I had planned on taking the Sonex Transition Training at the “factory”. I did, however, have a lesson in a Citabria a couple weeks ago.

It turns out that the landing was incredibly easy. At about 3 feet off the runway, it felt like a cushion of air was gently lowering me down. I had been watching a Jeff Schultz video of him doing touch and goes over and over. I paid close attention to the nose position in the pattern with and without flaps. Thanks Jeff!

Had I not had the airspeed indicator issue, I would have done three landings to prove I didn’t just get lucky. It just seemed too easy (knock on wood).

Thanks to everyone that has contributed to this forum; it’s been a valuable resource. I also want to thank Kerry at Sonex for the patient and accurate advice. Having dealt with other less than helpful companies, it’s always refreshing to deal with Sonex.

I guess that’s it for this post. Hope to see you guys at Airventure, Sun and Fun, or some other venue.

[Bryan Cotton]

Awesome Paul!

[Sonex1517]

Congratulations Paul! Excellent news and what an awesome Christmas present you earned!

[jowens]

Congratulations, Paul!!! Incredible first landing. So very smooth on the controls and dead straight rollout. Wow!!

[caveman370]

Welcome to the fun and congrats!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[WaiexN143NM]

Hi paul,
Great stuff!! Enjoy !

WaiexN143NM
Michael

[avee8r]

Congratulations Paul! A very special day to welcome winter indeed. I'm looking forward to fling on your wing soon.
Happy Landings
John
N50NX

[eppre]

Congratulations. Great job. My first flight did not look that smooth.

Great work.

[DCASonex]

Paul,

Congratulations on successful first flight. When first flying my Sonex TD, also had problem with CO, especially when taxiing on ground. (Had Guardian detector which would give continuously updated readings). Found primary source was fumes sucked in at very tail. Plugging and taping over openings their eliminated the problem. There are some low cost hand held continuous monitors available, and obtaining (beg buy or borrow) and using one of those might be a good investment until you are sure you have the problem under control.

David A.

[n502pd]

Very hearty congrats, too, Paul! I do fully understand your first flight feelings, as I had mostly the same, except my first landing wasnt perfect by any means, but I was able to reuse the craft without repairs! Merry Christmas and have a really Happy New year!

s/n 1510!