N459CX Reserved.

[flyguy0609]

I purchased an orphaned basket case kit (plans # 0414) in June 2022. What I like is that the purchase include all the tools, and a Corvair Engine with most of the FlyCorvair/SPA conversion parts including the SPA 5th bearing, engine mount and more. I do have the receipt from SPA on the 5th bearing (installed). I spent the next 6 months figuring out what I had, what was good and which pieces were serviceable. In the end, I rejected most of the skins due to corrosion and anything that had been riveted due to poor workmanship. I finally got into a hangar in April of this year. This is good as I live in a downtown Chicago condo where building an airplane is not an option. The dark side is a 50 mile drive to the hangar. Prior to the purchase, I was a retired consultant specializing in AI and statistical modeling. Shortly after purchasing my Sonex an old friend recruited me as a QC mgr at his machine shop with the availability to fabricate parts at the shop. We produce pressings and press dies that are exported all over the world, including China. Right now I am building a press die to make the ribs for the flaps and ailerons.

[GordonTurner]

Happy to hear about another Corvair Sonex in the works. 50 miles is going to be tough, sounds like you need to find a little pied a terre in the neighborhood. My fortune is the workshop I built for the project in my backyard. However as I near the end of the build it doesn’t look like my fortune is extending to finding a hangar anywhere in the area.

Hope we see you in the sky one of these days, and look forward to hearing about your progress. Best of luck, Gordon