"Do not become complacent with age and still achieve until you no longer have that choice''. I was advised when at school, I would amount to nothing- ‘They would say to me, "Your time here is wasting mine". Through my own intervention and self-awareness, I changed that. Call it a bucket list, a personal goal, even a wake-up call, then set myself a simple list of all things I wanted to achieve before it was to late. This channel is just that, with one of my final goals set, build a aircraft. \tAlong the way I plan to document the build and take you on the journey required to get your pilots license or in my case what it takes if you are no longer current to fly. At an age of over sixty, it’s never too late, and in the three or so years it will take to build the kit, I hope you learn from my mistakes. What does it take to buy a kit, have it shipped, license the aircraft, and how you achieve that? \tJoin me on this journey from kit, to beyond.
Hi Dan, hope all is good on your front. I am not happy with the colour and will probably look for more of a red. Also, the arm rest will have around 25mm diagonally trimmed off the side just to allow the seat the nestle in a bit better.
I could if I had a 3d printer, but the added weight will be negligible and as I am not painting the wings only fuselage, so I have made up for it, if not gained
I kind of believe this is where we will all spend most of our time, so why not make it as you say, comfy. I hope it looks and feels as plush when I fabricate the side walls, with a bit of added bling by way of two colours -stay tuned the sides are near completion, thanks Jamie for your comment.
I just ordered my seat belts while I was at Sun n Fun last week. Hooker had a show special going on and I saved a couple hundred bucks buying while I was there. I like your two color belts. The red accent looks great. And the panel came out really nice, too. You definitely earned that smile at the end.
Nice, had a quick look at “hooker harnesses” they are very good quality by the looks, expensive here around $1100 AUD for the 5 point. The more I see your progress on the wings, the more I am busting to start mine.
Your bird is looking awesome. Love the seats and seatbelts. I am surprised by how spacious the B model interior seems as compared to that on my legacy Sonex.
Might want to double check the mounting locations for the seat belt straps that go over your shoulders, if you do have them mounted where they seem from the video where they are behind and below you in the even of a crash they can break your back. Might want to look into it, I read something about it awhile back( a long while back so research it yourself) when mounting some racing seats. I think they need to be mounted above shoulder height? Something to look into.
As mentioned in the beginning of my video I did say the seat belts are only sitting there so I could gauge the colours chosen, seat belts are secured as per the instructions in the drawings, covered in part #10 of my series. These are not racing seats they are seat cushions supplied as part of the kit sold as an extra. Everything I am doing is part of the design of the kit.
Looks great Andy! I've been guilty of putting stuff in for the picture, helps the motivation even if it wastes time in the long run. I imagine someday you will get over stepping on the seats. We did! They do wash off though. Maybe Australia has cleaner asphalt and grass than we do in the states.
Ouch. I only have one canopy, so hopefully you figure out what happened and can discuss it (so I can learn from it). It's only on international orders that Sonex forces you to buy two canopies - I guess because it's such a difficult part to ship on its own. That latch looks really nice, by the way!
Hi Andy, You have done a really good job on the canopy - Well Done 😃. When I countersunk the holes for the dimpled washers I made sure the countersunk hole was a slightly loose fit on the washer just in case the washer tried to put pressure to open out the hole. Having said that it could have cracked for many reasons and it may just have been fate. It is difficult to gauge how much to tighten those screws especially as you are not supposed to use Loctite on them. I didn't put much pressure on them with a view to monitoring them over the first few hours of flight to see if they would loosen. I think you already know the answer as to whether to fix or start again. If it was me I would start again and keep the original one as a back up. I wouldn't try and use the original as a pattern - Start again from scratch - It won't take long - You know what your doing this time 😊 PS If it makes you feel any better I'm having a bad time with the bottom cowling at the moment. I'm in the process of giving up with plan A and starting again. Glass-fibre matting and resin at the ready to fix my cockup 😧
Hi Gavin, Very similar advice was given by Chris Nash from Sonex, keep this one as a spare and also to dill stop the crack. I was of two minds on how to do the second canopy and was a bit dubious as to use the first one as a template, and as you say the process the second time will be much easier. Chris also when through drill sizes they us, of which will just double check. As far as the oversizing of the holes and keeping the countersunk a bit loose is the advice for Sonex, so that’s what I will do. Keep up the good work and am looking forward to your next video on the cowling.
My screws are not very tight, but you should check them periodically too. We found the first loose ones at over 100 hours, and I tend to check them at annual and glance at them occasionally for preflight. It's a bigger deal to crack the canopy as opposed to losing a screw or two.
Andy, see what Sonex says. Hard to tell from the closeup but I have two observations: 1) you may be able to stop drill those cracks 2) check your countersinks. It looks like the washer is proud of the surface, which would mean you are clamping the plexiglass down with the conical part. Better if the flat part of the washer is bearing the load against the plexiglass.
Hi Bryan, great tips as usual, and the more I look at the crack the more I see why it happened. Keep up your videos with Adam, they are great to watch both performance of the Sonex, your beautiful countryside, you squeezing in between Adam and the fuselage sides, and more over the static pictures of where you land…as I said some would be fantastic photos for your hanger or man cave
I bet it was a great feeling to be sitting in the cockpit with the canopy closed. You did a really nice job fitting it and I’m sure you can do it again if the crack is not repairable.
Andy, please don't stress yet about that crack on the canopy. Try Weld-on acrylic cement (number 3 or 4). It works for acrylic and even polycarbonate. I would remove the screw where the crack started and apply very little weldon with a syringe applicator just to fill the crack. It is very fluid, should fill the crack easily, dry very fast, form very strong bound. You may try with scrap pieces first.
Hi Mickhail, That sounds promising I will have a look on eBay. I also believe that if the piece did give way both cracks are facing the toward the edge not back toward the screen itself.
Sad to see but hang in there and try again. I've no real advice other than to maybe enlarge the holes even more. All of the countersinking "seats" things tight enough in the end. You'll get there soon enough with your determination.
Great job. Glad it's working out for you. What's in the white tube that you were spreading on the brass fittings? Is that lithium grease? Or some kind of sealant?
Hey Dan, it’s a type of Teflon paste, Sonex recommend rather than Teflon tape especially around the fuel lines. The one I am using is a form of Loctite, there are so many available from Loctite and needed for when you build your engine should you go down the path of an VW Aerovee.
Looks like you’ve got it dialed in. As others mentioned a big syringe does a great job as well if you continue to struggle with sucking in air from your squeeze gun setup.
Hey Andy! Looks good. Some comments: 1) Great shirt! (Waiex not the KFC one) 2) Ironically I'm repairing my right side brake line tonight. I used a syringe to pressure bleed, works great. One tip is that you can use a heat gun to form bends in the nylaflow tubing. Just heat it up where you want to bend it, bend it, heat it some more, and let it cool down. 3) You don't need any sealant on the compression fitting threads. Yes on the pipe threads but the compression fitting seals by squashing the ferrule. 4) Regarding fluid on the cockpit floor - fill from the bottom, fill from the top, there is going to be some DOT-5 on the floor. I've found the world keeps turning! And I've dumped a bunch of DOT-5. 5) I've had good luck using electrical tape instead of tie wraps to hold the brake line to the gear. It gives if required. 6) For bleeding, if you put some teflon tape on the bleeder threads it will keep air from going in that route. We avoid teflon tape like the plague in fuel and hydraulic systems in general, but on the bleeders it works good. One less source of air bubbles. Oshkosh is only 4 months away, so hurry up and finish. You may need some sort of long range tanks to make it over the pond.
Hey Bryan, thanks for the tip of the heat gun, and electrical tap, will give that one a go. with the bleeding I have found another device on eBay, it’s a one-way valve it will also give aid to bleeding, will show it on my next video. I am not actually using Teflon tap, it’s a lock tight paste and are very careful not to have it anywhere near the openings if that makes sense. As far as Oshkosh is concerned, I may look at going perhaps next year, but would just love to gather some die hard youtubers as in Dan and Gavin, and meet like minded people such as you and Adam, just to name a few…
A&P mechanic here. I have always been a fan of pressure bleeding from the caliper up to the highest point in your system at the master cylinder. Bleed nipple position is less of a factor that way. It is easier with an extra set of hands to help prevent you from spilling hydraulic fluid in your interior, but totally doable alone. Good luck. Plane is looking great.
Hi Daniel It does appear there is more that one way to skin a cat. Your advice is absolute and has set me on path that ultimately doesn’t matter where the bleed is and or how they are mounted. I will do a part 2 of that video. I am absolutely humbled that an A&P Mechanic has commented on my channel, thanks again. Regards Andy
If all else fails, clamp a block over the pistons of the caliper and bleed the brakes off the aircraft. Nipple can be held up. Once bled, refit calipers.
It is odd Dan, that I now just sit there at the end of the days build and stare and imagine this little plane at 8000 feet and me looking out over the glare shield and problems I had with the paint, and down at the wing or thinking about those silly brakes and people I met on this wonderful journey…mmm I think there might be a book in there somewhere?
After seeing this, I'm starting to lean toward following the plans. I didnt realize the tri-gear had a different orientation from the taildragger. Maybe the nose up attitude while on the gear will make enough of a difference to easily get the air bubbles out. And like you said, it there's an issue it should be fairly easy to change after the fact. Thanks for talking through this.
I really should remain silent, but I just had a thought. The plans state to install the brakes with the nipple down. But what does the brake manufacturer state is the correct orientation? Maybe the plans are incorrect and you caught the problem? It’s just a thought.
Even though the nipple bleed is slightly down or practically level the brake assembly is in the same position either way, is it just the bleed height that is in question?
I’ve done cars and the bleed always goes to the highest point. Something just don’t smell right. There is either a design reason to install it in the wrong orientation or the plans are wrong. I just watched Gavin fabricating the baffles and the kit didn’t match the photos. Spent ten hours getting it to fit. I’m thinking of building a Sonex but this kind of stuff makes me have second thoughts. Don’t want to spend time fixing a kit I expect to be correct. And brakes are important. I enjoy your channel.
Hi Andrew, Please don’t be put off the Sonex because of a few hiccups. I am of the opinion that Sonex have considered both positions the aircraft and how they while static, hence the lower profile of the brake of the Waiex due to it being a tail dragger. Plans are plans for a reason, pictures and illustrations are just a guide, and it must be noted that planes are to take president over illustrations. If car manufacturers thought, they got it right we would still all be driving Model A fords. That said, manufactures still today improve on the last design and Sonex is no different. This is my second Aircraft I have built and the Sonex is by far the most straightforward and simplistic to do. In closing I do have a solution for the bleeding of the brakes, and just like Henry Ford, it is an improvment from the old way of bleeding brakes-stay tuned.. Regards Andy
I still say the bleeder is best on the top. That is where the air bubbles float to, which allows fluid to push them out when you bleed. On the forums it was mentioned that some of the later A model plans (older than my 2013 set) had hydraulic brake details, and showed the bleeder on the top. If you go to the support section of the Sonex aircraft home page you can download manuals for the Aerobrakes which also show the bleeders on top. I also agree with what @Mofuger73 says. But on the other hand, the volume of the system is so small, and the ID of the lines are so small, that a little air will not totally mess you up either. Even though I have bled my brakes as best as I can, I see air in the clear lines, which moves/compresses when I pull the lever. So I would say stick with your decision and move on. This is one of many things you can change later if you need/want to, or it may be perfect forever.
Agree…my process is just a waiting game and time will tell as I now have the aircraft on its gear legs, and off the jig…..great feed back as always, thanks Bryan
I think you have made the correct decision to go with the plans. If, in the end, you have problems bleeding the brakes you will only need to remake the back plates and flip the cylinders. The process of going through testing will add valuable data for future builders. I am eager to find out what happens. It's good of you to share your thoughts 😊
I am no expert either ,, but in over 30 years of building cars , truck and motorcycles , the bleeder has always been on the top . Hydraulic brakes should function the same on an airplane . You want the bleeder to be the high point to get the air out . Some people use a pressure bleeder to help get the air out . Having the bleeder on the top makes sure you don`t have a pocket of air trapped .
All this information is valid, so I thank you for that. I will do as I said assess the level of the V when the Sonex is on its gear leges and do a second posting on it.
The legacy plans, and the Aerobrake instructions from Sonex show bleeders on the top corner. Makes more sense to me, except maybe in Australia where you guys are upside down anyway!
@@pandysevenI would flip them around. On the other hand there are builders here in the states who have also put the bleeders on the bottom as per the current plans. But I think the choice is yours. I'll watch and comment on the new video when I get a chance.
Thanks for the great video Andy. It's good to see how you clamped everything in place. I'll be watching this again when my time comes. One note - the bolts should be inserted from the front rather than the rear (or from the top down), with the idea being that if a nut were to come loose, the slipstream and/or gravity should help prevent the bolt from falling out of the hole. I'm not sure how true that is, but that's the convention.
@@bryancotton7279 yeah, 100% agree. And it's probably a one-in-a-thousand chance that I would actually make a difference if the nut actually did vibrate off. Just mentioning the standard, that's all.
if you are talking about the nut and bolt for the axel, never even thought that slipstream and or that any likelihood of them coming loose? But if so, having the gear leg faring around the actual strut covers the nut anyway.
Dan I'm not sure if you are talking about the bolts that hold the titanium leg to the motor mount, or the bolts that hold the axle weldments to the titanium leg. It looks like the B model had enough space between the mount and firewall that you can put the nut on the back side, and that lets you change the bolts easily. I had to go the other way on my A model because there is only enough room for the bolt head between the mount and firewall. If you mean the bolt that holds the axle weldment, I put them in the other way because the head takes up less room than the nut. That lets the fairing come further aft against the gear leg. My DAR actually questioned that - although the airstream holds it in, gravity wants to pull it out. Because of fairing clearance I need them in the way I have them though.
