Sonex incorrect aluminum material notice.

[Rynoth]

Posting the email I just received below. Take note that this only affects a small number of orders delivered in November/December 2013, if you didn't receive the email it most likely does not apply to you.

Dear Sonex Aircraft Customer:

We have received notification from our laser cutting supplier that there has been a batch of 0.190” thick aluminum provided by the originating aluminum production mill that has been incorrectly identified by the mill as 6061-T6, and some parts have been produced by our laser-cutting supplier using this non-6061 material. This material has been tracked to one specific production run, which we have been able to track to a handful of individual Sonex Aircraft customers.

You are receiving this email because the parts in-question have been shipped to you, and immediate action is required on your part. Please immediately find and destroy (cut in-half and discard) the following parts supplied to you recently by Sonex Aircraft, LLC between November 1st and December 23rd, 2013:

Sonex Builders:
=====================
L-SNX-T12-01 Main Spar Aft Strap: Qty 1
L-SNX-F26-04 Upper Horizontal Splice Plate: Qty 2
L-SNX-F26-06 Lower Horizontal Splice Plate: Qty 2
L-SNX-F26-07 Lower Vertical Splice Plate: Qty 2
=====================

Waiex Builders:
=====================
L-WIX-F23-03 Y-Tail Fwd Y Fitting: Qty 1
L-SNX-F26-04 Upper Horizontal Splice Plate: Qty 2
L-SNX-F26-06 Lower Horizontal Splice Plate: Qty 2
L-SNX-F26-07 Lower Vertical Splice Plate: Qty 2
=====================

Onex Builders:
=====================
L-ONX-F21-06 Lower Horizontal Splice Plate: Qty 2
L-ONX-T08-09 Vertical Stab Rear Spar Strap: Qty 1
L-ONX-T08-16 Vertical Stab Rear Spar Tailspring Doubler: Qty 1
L-ONX-T09-05 Rudder Drive Horn: Qty 1
L-ONX-T04-09 Rear Spar Strap: Qty 1
L-ONX-F21-07 Lower Vertical Splice Plate: Qty 2
L-ONX-W21-07 Aileron Bellcrank Pivot Plate: Qty 2
L-ONX-W23-08 Small Aft Rib Spacer: Qty 16
=====================

If any of the parts listed above were shipped to you prior to November 1st, they do not need to be discarded. This notice only applies to the parts shipped to you within the stated timeframe.

Our laser-cutting supplier is in the process of producing replacement parts using the correct 6061-T6 0.190” thick material, and we hope to have a shipment of replacements on it’s way to you by Friday, January 17th.

Our apologies for any inconvenience caused by this material compliance issue. Sonex Aircraft, LLC and our laser-cutting supplier are jointly implementing additional steps to reduce the risk of material compliance errors in the future.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us at sales@sonexaircraft.com

If these parts have already been installed in your aircraft, and you have questions or concerns regarding the process of removing and replacing them, please contact our Technical Support staff at tech@sonexaircraft.com

If your shipping address has changed since the subject shipment, please advise our Customer Service department immediately at: orders@sonexaircraft.com


Sincerely-
--
Customer Service
Sonex Aircraft, LLC
Phone: 920-231-8297
Fax: 920-426-8333
http://www.sonexaircraft.com
http://www.aeroconversions.com

[Rynoth]

Unfortunately for me I had already installed ALL of the Waiex parts included in this recall notice. For me this will mean drilling out all of the rivets on the lower side of my fuselage cross-tie box (some of which are quite hard to access) to access/replace the upper splice plate, and potentially dissassemble/drill out the entire aft end of my tail cone assembly to access the forward Y fitting. All of these parts will then need to be bent to specs and updrilled to match a LOT of existing holes.

Not happy.

[Bryan Cotton]

Wow, that sucks. Better than them not finding it and a failure happening, but that still sucks.

[MichaelFarley56]

I'm really sorry to hear that. I've had to perform the last two S.B.'s on my AeroVee, both due to incorrect parts being shipped. The good news is that you at least get to perform the work yourself, free of charge. If this was a certified airplane, you'd have to pay a shop for the work.

Hang in there; you'll get this repaired and be moving on in no time!

[Rynoth]

I appreciate the sentiment. If this were a certificated airplane, it would be fixed under warranty including labor. Bottom line is it's an unfortunate error for all involved. I was feeling good about my rather brisk progress on my first build until now, and this situation almost feels like punishment for quick progress. My guess is that not many other builders are affected by this particular recall from a dissasembly standpoint given the recency of it.

I'm sure my feeling on it sounds more like whining for more experienced builders. As a first time builder with no experience this is severely aggravating.

[Bryan Cotton]

I would be aggravated. Most of my previous aggravation in my building career has been self induced. When I first saw your post there was a moment of panic that I was affected too. It is so hard to get time that it would kill me too. So no, I don't consider it whining. I do think it will not seem so bad 6 or 12 months from now. As a fellow builder I hope this doesn't kill your project entirely. I sense that sentiment in other replies too.

I used to work at Sikorsky Aircraft. This stuff happens at the major airframers too. Of course there it is less personal. The notice comes out, customers are contacted, and parts are replaced to ensure safety. Then they look at where the breakdown happened so it shouldn't happen again.

[dcstrng]

Our apologies for any inconvenience caused by this material compliance issue. Sonex Aircraft, LLC and our laser-cutting supplier are jointly implementing additional steps to reduce the risk of material compliance errors in the future.

Aggravating… but reassuring that it was caught as soon as it was. Always a slim possibility with third-party contractors/suppliers who may not always fully understand the application of what they are building…

[Rynoth]

Thanks for the support all.. I was feeling a bit better about things after a night of sleep. Then I started counting all the holes I'd updrilled in that Y fitting already... 132 of them... 108 of which are matched holes to my completed stabilators. Best way I can think of right now to reproduce those holes will be to clamp the new and old part together using the old as a template.

But hey at least it wasn't riveted yet!

[fastj22]

I felt the same aggravation when the SB for the Waiex tail came out. I had just finished riveting mine. But you do what you have to do.

[Rynoth]

I just had another look at the upper horizontal splice plate and it's worse than I thought. That plate is installed before the turtledeck, and my turtledeck is complete. I will probably have to drill out 105 rivets and completely remove my forward #1 turtledeck former in order to access the top of the plate to drill out its rivets.

But hey at least I hadn't installed the forward fuselage yet!