The Turbo has landed!!!! And some other parts too...........

It was just one of those things that I just wasn't prepared to fully appreciate until it arrived.  Upon opening the box it seemed like Christmas again! The courier driver graciously left the seven thousand dollars or so of aircraft parts just sitting on my front verandah over Christmas, while I was 450 kms away in Perth. Needless to say, I was ecstatic to see it there when I got home today. The fact that it was all still there and untouched, made my day.

I have had a brief look at all the components and tomorrow I will need to check all the items of the manifest. I have noted straight away that the two brand new heads are not in the package and have been listed as 'back ordered'. I have no idea what's going to happen there regarding freight but I am surprised Sonex didn't mention that it was shipping incomplete. Waiting for the heads to arrive and sending it complete would have seemed like a more sensible option. If I was given a choice I would have just waited as I still have soooooo much more building to do before I'm ready to hang the motor. However  it's nice to see that turbo sitting pretty in my lounge room.

I have lost count with how many turbos I have fitted and replaced in my 20+ years as an automotive car mechanic. It wasn't until tonight that I picked up the bare unit and appreciated how heavy they really are. When using them on cars little thought is given to the weight in my dealings with them but as the brain was switched into aircraft mode the automatic scales on the end of my arm kicked in. Now tell me, who when building a plane before hasn't sat there with something in their hand , be it a bolt,fuel filter, bracket, starter motor and just thought about the weight? I think it's an automatic built in feature of a aircraft builder to question every parts that goes into the plane and think "can I make this lighter?" or " does this really need to go on?" or the big one "how much will this affect my climb rate?"

Anyway,,, I did these calculations all tonight in my head, in probably what was all of three milliseconds, and summed up the requirements as " oh hell yeah, I need those extra horses".
It would be like going into a motorbike shop and asking for a power restriction kit to be added. Same thing, buying a sport plane but without the sport motor????. For me it was a no brainer, I had to have it.


Anyway, I hope everyone had a great Christmas and the new year brings a few more dreams to reality  ;)

So,,,, yep,,  huh,huh, um, yep, go order that Sonex kit, you'll love it :)

Stalled just for a bit.....

It's been a few weeks, unfortunately, since I have been able to do any work on the Sonex. I have had to do a few things with the Aeropup regarding the cooling baffles and so on. It's also come to that time of year again when it pretty much blows 20 kts constantly and is usually over 30-35 degrees, so flying hasn't really been pleasant.  Being close to Christmas as well , time just seems to be slipping by a little too quickly.

I have found the probable cause of an issue that has been a long time gripe I've had with the Pup, which is a positive find. I have always felt the engine vibrates quite significantly. Since comparing the factory Sonex Aerovee engine mount with my current mount, I have found the engine mount rubbers are far too compressed on my engine. The pins that the rubbers sit on need to be extended. I have contacted the Sonex help via email about possible fixes I could do and await their response.  I expect they must be seriously busy over Christmas so am not surprised that its been over two weeks now with no response.  It's not like I don't have plenty of other work to do regarding building the Sonex!

I would like to try to finish the paintwork on the fuselage. When Christmas is over I will have to try to do early morning, or late afternoon coats.  The middle of the day is just far too hot and the paint would almost dry as it leaves the gun.

SO....... what I have done on the Sonex since the last installment is a short list:

-  I have removed the lower floor on the Sonex in preparation to install the elevator push rod and             rudder cables.
- The dual control sticks were bolted in.
- the holes drilled for the elevator attachment.


Here's hoping to a productive new year... maybe even to see it fly in 2015 :)

Let there be White

Well the 3 weeks of working on the plane was a big leap in progress. I feel quite happy about what I managed to get done in that time. I have read so much about the paint vs polish debate I was unsure about where I was heading decision wise. I think what really changed my mind was one day I was working in the shed in the late afternoon on the elevator assy and the light was shining on it. It was not a polished piece or anything but the reflection off the sun was almost blinding. I had read some forum somewhere about a Sonex owner deciding to paint his plane after being sick of being blinded by the reflection from the wings. So the decision was made. I think however that I still may have polished it if I was running the standard Aerovee , however, since I have decided to add the turbo to the engine, I don't mind sacrificing a little payload with some paint.








Soooooo the next big question was what to use and what colour scheme to go with. Not being much of an original thinker I was looking all over the net and found one that just jumped out at me from the moment I saw it. I saw the plane in an article from the 'Contact' magazine and it's quite a tragic tale, but I won't go into it here.. I hope the owner of this plane doesn't mind me plagiarizing his colour scheme.

Realizing painting the plane would be a heck of a lot easier before the motor was fitted, I have started on the job. It's been a few years since handling a spray gun, but it seems to be going on quite well. The elevator and tail tips were the first to be painted. I had to go back to the paint shop to add a little more red tint as at first it was a little too orange for my liking. After the extra tint was added it came out spot on.

 

The main fuselage was next. The base coat of white is finished now, however, I don't have a photo. It did come out quite well. Time will tell if I have done a good job. I have sprayed it in automotive 2 pack paint hence all the protective clothing and breathing apparatus including goggles.

It just wouldn't be cricket I guess, if I didn't just throw some random photo in from the last three weeks. I had a great little fly out to a place called Morawa in W.A. There is a local gliding club out there and I managed to get talking to the local CFI and the topic of the VW came up. So I had to see how his baffling and cooling ducts were arranged in the hope that I could solve the ongoing issue of overheating in my Aerovee. He has given me a few ideas and I hope to try them next week when I get home. 



Until next time .......... Stay Cool. :)