Think ahead with questions for those who have gone before...

[N814W]

Dirk,

I like your cockpit. That's about what I'm going for as well - thanks for sharing! At 6'5", I can't hang quite as much stuff under the instrument panel (I think I only had about an inch to spare between my shins and the panel in the factory demo Onex), and for the same reason, I just can see myself pretzled on the cabin floor working on much at all under the panel or tank...

I also appreciate the cautionary comments on unnecessary weight. I wouldn't ask if I wasn't prepared for the responses. :) At the rate I'm going, I can build far faster than I should spend on it, so some extra little projects are a welcomed interjection of something to "do". My problem historically is not that projects are too big to accomplish, but rather I run out of things to do, lose the sense of accomplishment, get bored, and switch gears altogether. My fuselage showed up June-ish, and I'm about ready (per the plans) to button it all up. I need something to keep me busy through October when the wings kit is scheduled to go on order.

[Onex107]

I installed a gap seal on the rudder, mostly because it improved the look, and people don’t have to ask me why the rudder steering horns are not the same length. I didn’t expect a change. But it did. It’s hard to quantitate the change, but the rudder is now more neutral, self centering, stable. I don’t have as much trouble keeping the ball centered. In effect it eliminates the turbulence and drag on the right side of the rudder. I like it.
So, I went ahead and did the same thing to the elevators. The seal I added did not contact the elevator surface. It came straight out from the bottom of the horizontal rear spar. It left a gap of about ½ inch. When I flew it for the first time I had a heavy nose, so I cranked in nose up trim. I added nose up trim until the trim cable bottomed out and still had a heavy nose. In conclusion, the gap caused the air to separate from the elevator and I lost the down force it normally provided. I massaged the gap seal and put some bend in it so it now contacts the elevator in the centered position, matching the tips, and flew it yesterday afternoon in bumpy thermals. At 3000 ft., just under the cloud bases, I got all the trim back to normal and the plane trimmed better and flew hands off better. To sum it all up, the tail is more stable. It’s easier to keep the ball centered and hold altitude. I think I picked up a little air speed also. More testing in calm conditions. The installation is simple and removable if you don’t like it. If you are interested, I can give you the details of construction.

[x3 skier]

Can you post a photo?

TIA

[gammaxy]

Can you post a photo?

Onex107 posted some more about the gap seals and shared some photos at http://sonexbuilders.net/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=3926

[pilotyoung]

I have a Onex tailwheel. The main tires are getting thin and will need to be replaced soon. I put Desser retreads on my RV-12, 5.00 X 5. They seem to wear better and longer and use the same tube. The only issue I know of is that the tires are a letter bigger on outside dimensions.

So I am wondering if any Onex owners have put the "Desser tires on their Onex? If so, did the tires fit the wheel pants? Any other problems with the Desser tires.

Thank You

John D. Young

[pappas]

I like the Desser retreads and used them on my RV-8 with great success. I ordered a pair for my Waiex B last year and found them to be too tall to fit in the Waiex wheel pant. I could make them fit on the factory wheels with no problem, but they were so tall with the retread material that I would have had to have more than 1/2 of the tire hanging out below the wheel pant. It looked bad and reduced the aerodynamic effect of the wheel pants. I went with new 5:00 x 5 tires from Spruce which fit great and cost about $70 each. Don't forget to get a pair of Air-Stop tubes. I add air only once every 3 months with these tubes. The factory tubes and tires really are not durable. But they are cheap, (in all senses of the word).