Cost of kit aluminum?

[Son_of_X]

How much is really saved by building from the plans and sourcing the material yourself as opposed to buying the materials directly from Sonex? I am not talking about the engine, engine mount, or canopy. Just basically the aluminum materials.

For example, if instead of buying all the Sonex aluminum materials, you just bought it retail from Spruce etc.

Is the savings large enough to justify the extra time tracking things down and figuring what sizes etc?

[Mike53]

Someone over at sonextalk contributed a cut layout for the sonex I believe so it would be a matter of checking your cost to buy the sheets.I would think the savings would be substantial.Go to the files at sonextalk and you will find it under cut list.
Mike

[falvarez]

I may not be understanding your question correctly...you are just talking about raw materials (not the CNC parts), right? I thought the only bulk raw materials that you can buy from Sonex are the Aluminum Angles...and I would completely agree that there isn't a whole lot of money to be saved here...at least when I compared prices....(except maybe shipping...Sonex shipping rates are on the high side).

I don't believe Sonex provides 4x12 Aluminum Sheet so if you are scratch building you would need to go to one of the other sources and there are many factors as to what you will pay (including the cost of aluminum fluctuating...right now...4x12 sheets are $50 a sheet more than what I paid 3 years ago)

If you are comparing the CNC aluminum parts to a scratch built parts, there is a considerable savings.

[kmacht]

This is an easy one to answer. Aircraft Spruce sells a Sonex metal kit for scratch builders. It includes about 95% of the aluminum you will need to scratch build the airplane. The cost is $2020.48 plus shipping.

Now if you buy the full kit from sonex it is $15,195 (sdt gear, dual stick). In addition to the aluminum it includes:

The Plans - $600
Spar Caps - $1000
Welded Componenet Kit - $3100
Canopy and Windshield - $450
Fiberglass Components - $1025
Fuel Tank - $325
Gear Legs - $625
Rudder Cables - $113
Rivet Kit - $700
Lead Counterweights - $50
Seat Belts - $175
Bushing / Spring Kit - $30
Wheels / Mechanical Brakes - $175
Total - $8368


So if you buy the full kit it is going to cost you $15,195. If you "make your own kit" it is going to cost $10,388. The savings are $4807.

If you can learn to weld you can add another $2500 in savings by only having to buy the 4130 tubing and not the welded component kit. You can also save a few hundred dollars by buying the titanium gear legs from other sources but those sources are hit and miss as to if they have the right size and lenght in stock.

I went the plans built route, welded a number of components myself, bought some stuff used, and sourced a few parts from other places. My savings vs buying the kit from Sonex were about equal to what the aerovee and firewall forward kit cost me. I will have about $16k into my plane including paint and avionics but keep in mind that I bought most of it 9 years ago and things were also cheaper back then.

The giant down side is the extra time it takes to build. I am almost done but it has taken me nine years with many other commitments getting in the way over that time. If I were to do it again I would buy the full kit with match drilled holes, the pre-cut angle component kit, but probably not the pre-made spars. I imagine I would be up and flying in under 2 years instead of the 9 it took to scratch build.

Keith
#554