Darick's Sonex #1646

[wlarson861]

The heavy left wing is usually due to the solo pilot sitting on that side. When I fly solo I have a trim tab that I attach to the right aileron with Velcro. When flying with a passenger I remove the tab and put it in the sidewall pocket.

[Darick]

Finally added the rudder trim tab and adjusted the left flap to eliminate right yaw and heavy left wing. I started with about 1/4" bend on the trim tab and one turn on the Heim bearing. Today's short flight (before the next two days of rain-AGAIN!) tells me the trim tab needs a little more bend. The heavy left wing is not as bad as it was but I need more flight time to determine if more adjustment is required.
My paint job will be similar to one of our brothers from down under...

N417DG at its home...

[samiam]

Glad to see you back at it Darick! We should meet up soon, I've been making progress as well.

[Darick]

Reading about Bryan's progress reminded me of this. After the engine is in place and you are making mods and finishing baffles, stragically placed masking tape will prevent dropped parts from disappearing. The standard explanation is "don't ask me how I know".

[Darick]

After many attempts at painting with rattle cans i gave up. Looking at the last attempt my wife said, You need to have a professional do that.
The image above is “Donna Darlin’” in the pro paint shop of Cliff Weaver, East Berlin, PA.

[Matt541]

Cool, looking forward to seeing it done.

I'm just about in the same boat. I'm pretty good with a rattlecan, but just not satisfied with it yet. Most recently, my coats of satin paint started looking more flat...

[Darick]

Ok, here is the paint job...a 30 second video in the hangar.

https://youtu.be/yvqBVvkHIa8



Or you can search "Darick Light Earth Aviation " on you tube to see a few unedited video clips.

[Matt541]

Excellent! The shop did a great job with it.

[Darick]

I changed from the "slick" profile to the standard 5.00 x 5 tire size. There is NO difference in weight. They both weigh 6 lbs each.
The small factory tire weighs 3.4 lbs. (no picture of the factory tire). The wheel pants do not fit with the 5.00 x 5 tires so that is the next project.

[Darick]

Here is the progress on widening the wheel pants to accommodate the 5.00 x 5 tires. I used JB weld to hold a small piece of plastic in place until a trial fit can be made at the hangar. I took the opportunity to reinforce the attachment points with more JB weld, making sure the aluminum tube hole bushings stayed in place. The one came lose and I cut a new piece of aluminum to replace it, as you can see in the photo on the right upper corner. It will need to be filed down flush.