New Member, considering scratch build.

[MetalBasher388]

Ah, sorry, Jon is my name.

Yes Mike, I watched every minute of your over view video there a couple nights ago. Very helpful for people like me.

I have a 30" brake in my home shop, and a 5' brake and shear at work. Ive watched a few clips of leading edge skins being bent, seems pretty straight forward. We also have a 4x4 cnc plasma, but not sure how much that would help, sometimes its just faster to do the work by hand.

I mig weld all the time, pretty decent with the tig, unless it is thin stainless, and oxy welding is pretty simple... I'll likely tack up anything here at home with my mig and then tig it after hours at work. The engine mount will be a challenge with all that geometry. Ive built a few roll cages so that helps.

The good thing is that since we do such a variety of things in my trade, its hard to stay current at all of it, so these extracurricular projects are encouraged. Haven't used the mill very often so this is good practice.


Wish I could start building now, Im sure the girlfriend would appreciate it too so I would shut up.

We both live over 1200km from our families so the promise is this machine will make it so we can visit more often.

[mike.smith]

Hi, Jon!

You've got a great skill set! I think you're going to have a great time building the Sonex. I'm going to PM you with some other information.

Cheers!

[Gripdana]

I built my Sonex from scratch in the same way as Mike Smith. It took me 3 years and 1400 hours. I built to the plans and no frills or added items not on the plans. My plane has the Aerovee and came in at 655 lbs. For me the building process was to start at the back of the plan set and build to the front. The process was very motivating in that I built parts that became an assembly which became a section. Then all sections were put together to become the plane. Started with the tail then the wings (easier to store) then the fuselage and FWF. I moved to the airport when all I had to do was basically install the wings. The plans were really overwhelming to see. Someone told me to take them ONE page at a time and try to work on the project at least 30 minutes a day even if it was just clean up or planning supplies/parts purchase. I too could not afford to buy the kit and ended up building from scratch. I had no prior experience building but have some mechanical skill. I found many here helpful and there is a ton of information at the EAA website as well as the internet. The plane has been a blast to fly. I have done couple long cross country flights (Los Angeles to Atlanta). When parked at any airport the plane gets a lot of looks.
Here is a link to my Flicker account. https://www.flickr.com/photos/90889513@N04/
Good luck.

[MetalBasher388]

I built my Sonex from scratch in the same way as Mike Smith. It took me 3 years and 1400 hours. I built to the plans and no frills or added items not on the plans. My plane has the Aerovee and came in at 655 lbs. For me the building process was to start at the back of the plan set and build to the front. The process was very motivating in that I built parts that became an assembly which became a section. Then all sections were put together to become the plane. Started with the tail then the wings (easier to store) then the fuselage and FWF. I moved to the airport when all I had to do was basically install the wings. The plans were really overwhelming to see. Someone told me to take them ONE page at a time and try to work on the project at least 30 minutes a day even if it was just clean up or planning supplies/parts purchase. I too could not afford to buy the kit and ended up building from scratch. I had no prior experience building but have some mechanical skill. I found many here helpful and there is a ton of information at the EAA website as well as the internet. The plane has been a blast to fly. I have done couple long cross country flights (Los Angeles to Atlanta). When parked at any airport the plane gets a lot of looks.
Here is a link to my Flicker account. https://www.flickr.com/photos/90889513@N04/
Good luck.

I'm expecting about 1500 hours to complete. It would't be much of a stretch to put in 10-20 hours in a normal week if I keep up the motivation, and I get 6-8 weeks off every year where I would hopefully go at it just like it was my job, so I'll be in the 2-3 year range.

Unfortunately, up here in Canada we still do the pre-close inspections, so I get to have a bunch of partially closed up components in the garage and then wait for the inspection before I can close up and continue building. But, I'll likely do the tail, then wings, then fuselage.

Thinking of that newer Mazda candy-apple redish colour for paint, probably using the AVMap system for the panel, and the engine is top secret, it will be the first to go in to a sonex as far as I can tell. It has been flying in other aircraft for a few years now, so it isn't anything too wacky... But fast it will be!

[sonex1566]

Hi Jon,
I scratch built mine in Australia. Usual pathway......model aircraft from when I graduated out of nappies. I built because I enjoy the process and the challenge, plus a severe shortage of funds! I don't think that I really saved any significant money due to spending far too much on freight over a 6 year period. But for me was being able to purchase a couple of sheets at a time. The motor was a stretch, but I got there in the end. That nifty material list that shows how to cut each piece out to save on material is excellent. Just find it at the beginning, not 2 years later like I did. I ended up buying an extra 2 sets of aluminium. I purchased the tank, cowling, tail tips, canopy and wheel brakes and made everything else.

661 lbs
Aerovee
Dual stick
Tail dragger
Took about 1700 hrs to build.

Good luck, it's most definitely worth it.

[peter anson]

Hi Jon,
I'm another scratch builder from Australia. One of the nice things about the Sonex is that you can cheat a little and buy some of the parts ready cut if you want to hurry things up a bit. I would suggest you buy all the ready folded control surfaces from Sonex. I folded my own elevators and rudder but they were very tricky to get right. I bought the pre-folded aileron and flap skins from Sonex saving hours and probably some material. I also found it very motivating to build complete sub-assemblies so I could see the progress I was making. I also saved some money by looking out for parts for sale during the build. I usually paid people the full Sonex price for parts. They were happy and I saved a bundle on freight, which to Australia is a very significant cost.

Peter

[SonAl]

Hi Jon,
I’m a scratch builder in Canada as well. Just had my empennage and flight controls inspected so I could close them out, as well as having the inspector check my spars before I built the wing around them, just in case. Definitely an extra pain and expense, but so be it. Now that I’m home from my airline job I’ve been getting a lot of work done on the wings, but will soon be out of parts....and short on cash (the exchange rate just makes me cringe).

I started with a scratch build many, many years ago, in the RCAF as well. I had a few posting interruptions, family stuff, retiring from the military/re-enrol/retire again, etc,. So had a low hour/year work average. With your background you will probably be much quicker building from scratch than I was (lots of head scratching and mistakes in the early days). But it takes longer than you think. I have decided to switch to a B model, partly because I’m getting to the point where Ijust want to fly. If you start with empennage, flight controls, and aft tail cone, you can switch to a B easily in the future. From what I can see, most things I was going to buy (cowl, welded stuff, canopy, fuel tank) come with the B conversion anyway, so the cost doesn’t go up much from what I would have spent. If you think this might be an avenue in the future, don’t drill any inboard wing skin holes! As I am learning the hard way....

I assume Bell 412 means you’re not near Greenwood, but if so I’m not far. If you’re in the maritimes or through Greenwood, pm me and we could meet up (post Covid, of course) I might have some A parts for you.

Good luck!

Al Arbuckle
B Sonex, AeroVee (probably)