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I polished strictly due to weight. Mileage varies, but on a classic Sonex, 25 lbs seems to be the most common number reported when weighing the aircraft before and after. With an AeroVee, unless you're flying solo, weight is a very big consideration. Mine weighed in at 653 lbs at completion, and I o...

I did the initial polishing when the sheets were flat. You do have to be very careful with the direction of the polishing pad. You want it to be moving away from edges and corners. If it's turning toward the edges, and especially corners (!!) you can instantly bend the corner with the pad if/when it...

I've been flying my scratch built for 10 years, now, so costs have increased. But I spent $28,000 all-in, including materials and tools. AeroVee 2.1, smoke system, MGL Xtreme Mini, transponder, MGL panel mount radio, uAvionix ADSB in/out, ELT, polished finish (Rustoleum rattle can paint on cowl and ...

I remember someone used angle pieces, just 1x1x.025 or maybe less, attached diagonally across panels with double sided tape. Effective, but no analysis of how these may concentrate stress at their ends. I saw this on another build and I am considering doing this to reduce the oil canning noise from...

I'm a fan of cordless drills. I have a pneumatic drill I bought in 1990 and I almost never used it. Likewise. I used the pneumatic drill for about 2 weeks, then built the rest with my cordless drill. I'm building an RV-7 now, and still not using a pneumatic drill. Personal preference, but you don't...

One nice thing about the plans is you basically stay on one page and finish everything before moving to the next page. Sonex has a strange way of ordering the sheets, though. You start at the last page (for each sub-assembly, like "wings") and work to the first page. I scratch built mine, ...

I love flying in the winter! With me and 10 gallons of fuel, I often climb out at 1,200 fpm or better. Much better performance all around. A hot day in the summer could be 400 fpm with the same load.

I'm 5'-11". In level cruise flight (90-95 kts) my nose is just below the horizon. I have a vertical fuel vent that sticks up above the cowl, and level flight usually puts the horizon in the middle of that vertical vent. The Sonex has a long nose, so it never has good visibility over the nose.

I have a couple if thick washers between the brake body and the wheel/bearing. Otherwise the brake pad and puck are in constant hard contact with one another. I have had my current pucks for 3 years and they are still in good shape, without need of replacement.

I built one long enough to bend the rear spars without a splice. As it turned out, I MIS-CUT the channels, and ended up with the splice anyway. Oh, well!

https://www.cannedhamtrailers.com/pdfs/ ... eplans.pdf

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Re: When to polish?

Re: When to polish?

Re: Building myths. Is scratch building really less expensi

Re: Noise insulation

Re: Pneumatic Drill

Re: IS THERE A VIDEO DETAILING BUILDING SONEX WING?

Re: Seasonal cruise performance changes

Re: sight picture (over the nose)

Re: Aerobrake puck and disc wear?

Re: Length of Bending Brake For A Scratch Build?