Well when it came to painting first thing I had to do was make some room. So with the wife's approval, into the house came the wings to free up space in the shed. This is nothing new really as basically my last plane I built was in the house with the wings attached for well over a year while I sorted out struts,angle of incidence, dihedral and so on. Thankfully with the quick build Sonex kit this has all been done for me and when the time comes to fitting the wings, I will give it a check to make sure it's correct and that should be that.
So I went and made the rudder cable supports for the 2 piece bushes. I was going really well with them until I went and drilled a 1" hole through the centre, then realized that I needed to drill a 3/4 hole. I really have to admit that didn't make my day one little bit. I was just really thankful that I had ordered extra phenolic block after the first mishap I had, when making the rudder bracket mounts :) I had to order more for them so got a bit extra again in case I had another 'oops' moment.
So anyway they went into the plane okay, after I made them the correct size, and the bushes fit well. I fed the cable through and riveted them in place. I have also fitted the 1 piece push-in bushes that don't really support much but are just there, it seems, to eliminate the potential for the cable to run on a sharp edge.
This is just a blurry view of the block from the back end fitted in situ.
I have also fitted the elevator control rod now and joined the two halves together. I have fixed in place the guide brackets made from the ally sheet and the guide bushes. It all fit together quite nicely.
I couldn't help myself. I had to have a big smile when I saw the elevator operating from the control stick :) I should be ready soon to refit the floor.
So the painting begins on the tail.
As with all painting, it takes a long time to prep anything, and the painting only takes a few mins. The red stripe has come out really well and I'm absolutely pumped so far. The spray gun I bought to replace the other 4 or so I already had is just a class in its own compared to what I have used in the past. I'm glad I spent some extra cash and bought a good one this time.
Taping the plane up a few days later to paint the silver stripe. I am starting to get better at all this and another good thing to do is buy the really good spray painter's masking tape so the edges come out really sharp with minimum leakage through. After you have done the final coat, rip the tape off before it dries so that a nice edge is obtained rather than a hard edge when it dries.
The picture below shows how it is looking now. I still have to spray the clear over it all. I have never sprayed clear before so I am hoping I don't make any screw ups now as I am really happy with the results so far. I have been holding off a little as the back end near the tail wheel leg still needs to be riveted in and I don't want to have to repaint that small area. Long story short, I have had some bolts and so on apparently on order from an Australian company for over 7 weeks now. They had forgotten to order my stuff and only picked up they hadn't ordered it when I rang after 4 weeks asking where it was. Oh but don't worry, the day I placed the order they didn't forget to charge my credit card... just forgot to order the actual parts.
Just in case anyone was wondering, I really have basically no spray painting experience apart from painting a fabric plane which is completely different. I have watched some you tube videos and been absolutely peppering my mate with questions like "can I do this?" and "can I do that?" . It has helped out enormously and it was that help, I think, that has made it turn out so well from someone inexperienced at this type of work. I just hope it hasn't made it too heavy :) I sure am glad that Sonex give you the extra 50 lbs for the MTOW when using the turbo aerovee engine. I think I will be needing it .
Bye for now :)
