Assembly manual

[fastj22]

Good points on the timing of the assembly! Most smart builder's don't rivet the top firewall in place until after the bolts going through the glare shield and longeron for the engine mounts are in place. It is very difficult to get under the panel and get to these with the top firewall in place. I learned that the hard way.

Also great advice on not closing up the floor until the inspector in pulling in the driveway. There is a lot to do that is extremely difficult if the bottom skin is on.

Dale
N319WF

I had to make a special tool to reach the bolts on the engine mount/longeron bolts because I was too eager to finish the firewall.
I swear, my next Sonex will go together with much less fuss and cussing. In retrospect, it was all good.

[daleandee]

"I had to make a special tool to reach the bolts on the engine mount/longeron bolts because I was too eager to finish the firewall."

Not sure whether mine was eagerness or stupidity but it was an experience getting under the panel and having a friend up top to turn the screws so I could get the nuts started. Some even required two washers and that was another concern to face. But I soon devised a way using some 3/8" wire loom and painter's tape to hold two washers and a nut in place to get it started. Then a long 1/4" extension with a swivel got it done.

Here's a pic of my solution:

https://s3.amazonaws.com/expercraft/dal ... f77795.jpg

I'm with you though ... I could probably shave 30% off of the build time if I went at it again. 8~)

Dale
N319WF

[Sonex1517]

You will find it more convenient if you look ahead in the plans before closing up a certain area..........putting the rudder pulleys in the tail cone before the turtle deck goes on makes it more convenient to work.......
Cheers,
Mike

Hey Mike

Can you elaborate on that part? I am at the point of finishing the turtle deck and had never heard this before......

thanks!

Robbie
Sonex 1517

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[Mike53]

Hi Robbie.
I can't speak for the Sonex but on the Onex we have to make brackets for 4 pulleys, 2 of which attach to the last bulkhead in the tail cone to guide the rudder cables on both sides.On the Onex it is fairly narrow between the sides at the last bulkhead and it would ,I think, be a real pain to attach and properly line up those brackets if the turtle deck is on.
It is things like this where it would be most helpful if Sonex had either a manual or at least give a heads up on the page where you are to attach the turtle deck to let you know it would be prudent to do this before proceeding. Same with the shoulder harness the installation of which comes much later in the plans would be doable later but much easier before .
Small things but if I'm not always on the ball it will mean more work later to do something that is quite simple early on before the plans call it out.
Getting it done one piece or rivet at a time.
Mike

[LLR]

Nothing like a first-time poster to resurrrect an old thread!

At one time, Sonex did have an assembly manual of sorts, called the "Builder's Checklist", drawing SNX-B07: http://sonex1504.com/category/airplane-related/drawings-plans/. This was removed from the drawing tree December 4, 2012, yet as of this writing it was still advertised to be part of the plans package: http://www.sonexaircraft.com/choosing/reasons.html. It evidently included a materials planning guide to help make for efficient use of materials.

I'm planning on sctatch-building Sonex No. 1680, so the first thing I did when the plans arrived yesterday (after comparing the plans to the drawing corrections log) was look for some sort of materials list. I was disappointed that I couldn't find one anywhere, nor did I see any sort of suggested materials planning guide. As a practicing engineer, I would consider one or the other - and preferably both - to be present for a set of plans to be considered complete for scratch-building purposes. That aside, the plans are indeed otherwise extremely detailed and very well executed.

I called Sonex customer service this afternoon to ask if the Builder's Checklist was still available, and was told that wasn't. The explanation was that it was discontinued because of numerous drawing revisions. I was further told that "everything I needed to scratch-build a Sonex was in the plans". This is fundamentally true, I suppose - if I go through the trouble of making scale drawings of all the parts and shuffling them around on scale drawings of the appropriate building stock.

The relative simplicity of the build, aerobatic capability, relatively low burn rate and low stall speed were the primary reasons I chose the Sonex over the RV-4 (and I do understand that they're fundamentally different aircraft). However, this whole experience has left me wondering a bit over whether I've made the right choice. I could also be overlooking something here, so please don't view this as some empty tirade. I've been extremely impressed with the knowledge base of the Sonex builder's community, as well as its collective willingness to share that knowledge.

So... While my email tech support inquiry languishes in cyberspace, does anybody in the community have a materials list, or perhaps some sort of materials cutting guide that they could share? :oops: I'm hoping that you folks can provide some insight and or/suggestions to help keep this a positive, successful build experience.

Thanks!
Larry,
Sonex No. 1680

[falvarez]

I have a copy of the spreadsheet that some builders put together a couple years ago that details what raw material each metal part comes from; however, I don't think we can upload spreadsheets on this forum. I can send it to someone if they know where it can be posted.

[LLR]

Thanks Frank! Given the Sonex's popularity, I figured there had to be some such information out there somewhere. I could PM you my email address, but I'd still like for others to have access as well.

As for your scratch-build, what's been your most challenging task? I'm also glad to see someone using the hydraulic brake kit; I'm considering it in my build as well.

Cheers,
Larry

[falvarez]

Go ahead and PM me your email address and I'll send you the file. Also, maybe Robbie can add it to the Foundation website if it's not already posted there.

The most challenging task has getting over a desire to make everything perfect, I have 2 or 3 copies of many parts ;-)

All kidding aside, I was very fortunate. I had another local builder that was ahead of me on most parts and every time he ran into issues (for example locating the horizontal stab so that it gets full deflection w/o grinding the control horn) I made sure I located my scratch built holes accordingly so that the issue was avoided. You can gain a lot of this type of insight by reading many of the great builder sites out there...most of them will point out where they had pain points and as a scratch builder you can avoid many of them.

One of the pleasant surprises of scratch building is the crazy techniques I've either learned from others or come up with on my own to create some of the parts (i.e. vacuum forming wing leading edges, etc) . You'll be amazed at what you will be able to create with minimal tools. Of course, if you ever get stuck, read a builder site or come here and ask...there is pretty much an answer for everything you can think of already out there.

[tonyr]

Hi Larry
Most of the file resources were on the old Sonextalk and Sonexplans groups. As you appear to be new on the scene, you probably don't have any access to those files.
I hate to tell you that over the weekend I cleaned out a lot of those same resources and more, from my computer but all is not lost... I downloaded some they may be useful.
You can find them here:
http://sonexaus.wikispaces.com/Scratch+Builder+Files

Cheers
Tony

[LLR]

Holy cow - it certainly appears I came to the right place! Seriously, thanks for the help, guys. It's good to get a 32,808 ft (10,000 m) view of things before beginning a project such as this - and you folks have helped immensely.

As an aside, I've been astounded at the simplicity of most of the tools necessary to complete construction, and gratified to learn that I already owned most of them. Now the challenge is going to be how to determine when to leave well enough alone; I can be a bit of a perfectionist also.

Thanks again!
~Larry