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Hello from Syracuse NY

PostPosted: Wed Mar 23, 2016 8:45 am
by bvolcko38
I am expecting my Xenos kit next week. I have about 1200 hrs TT mostly in a Challenger II, sailplanes, and a Cessna 172. Very excited about this project. Got my workbench set up, band saw ready to go. I still need a pneumatic rivet puller and clecos, but not right away.

Re: Hello from Syracuse NY

PostPosted: Wed Mar 23, 2016 9:08 am
by Bryan Cotton
Welcome to the forums! You will need a boatload of clecoes for a Xenos wing! I have a bunch and still had to borrow for my Waiex.

I used to live near Elmira and one of my college roomates was from Syracuse. Spent a lot of time at his camp in Deruyter. I love that part of the country.

Re: Hello from Syracuse NY

PostPosted: Thu Mar 24, 2016 8:54 am
by Darick
Welcome.
I have about 100 each 3/32 and 1/8 clecos I can part with now that my wings are finished. How does $40 plus shipping sound? Last time I looked that would be less than half the cost. I'm not sure what shipping would be but I can check in the next few days.
Darick
Sonex #1646

Re: Hello from Syracuse NY

PostPosted: Thu Mar 24, 2016 10:08 am
by Bryan Cotton
Buy them! Or I will, though I don't technically need them.

Re: Hello from Syracuse NY

PostPosted: Thu Mar 24, 2016 11:24 am
by NWade
From a fellow sailplane pilot (out on the west coast), welcome aboard!

Hope you're set for a multi-year adventure through time and space. :-) If you have any questions, never hesitate to ask them on the forum!

A couple of tips, which you may or may not already know:

  • Ron Wanttaja's book "Kit Airplane Construction" is a good reference manual, going into a lot of common topics like how to understand AN bolt numbering, how to respect the metal you're working with, how to rig control cables, etc. He's local to my area and a great guy, to boot. :) You can find the book on Amazon.com or through your favorite bookseller.
  • If you haven't done a Sonex workshop or an EAA SportAir workshop, I highly recommend attending one or the other. The Sonex workshop happens at their location in Oshkosh about 3-6 times a year; the EAA workshops tour around the country so look at the website and hopefully one is happening close to you in the next couple of months. Their basic metal workshop is a great introduction to cutting parts, measuring & drilling holes, and getting hands-on experience with both pulled and driven rivets.
  • However many silver & bronze clecos you think you'll need - double it. The wings and aft fuselage need a LOT, and its really advantageous to keep as much cleco'ed together for as long as possible; and only rivet items together once an entire assembly is 100% ready to rock.
  • Practice with a scotchbrite wheel and scrap material until you get good at smoothing surfaces and grinding away material in a controlled fashion. If you find it difficult to work with, I suggest getting a Harbor Freight 1" belt sander and replacing the sanding belt with abrasive belts. My YouTube video on this is quite old at this point, but I still stand by my comments. :)
  • You already ordered your kit so its probably too late for these; but the machined-angle components are a HUGE time-saver, and the pre-assembled spars saves a reasonable amount of time and a lot of stress. You can certainly do without them (I made my own Sonex spars from the basic kit); but if you can swing it they are well worth the cost.

Hope this info helps, and once again welcome aboard!

--Noel Wade
Sonex #1339
Center-stick, Taildragger, Acro-ailerons, Turbo-Aerovee, all-flush-pulled-rivets
605hrs, empennage & wings complete, aft fuselage just about completed

Re: Hello from Syracuse NY

PostPosted: Thu Mar 24, 2016 11:49 am
by Sonex1517
NWade wrote:From a fellow sailplane pilot (out on the west coast), welcome aboard!

Hope you're set for a multi-year adventure through time and space. :-) If you have any questions, never hesitate to ask them on the forum!

A couple of tips, which you may or may not already know:

[list]

[*] If you haven't done a Sonex workshop or an EAA SportAir workshop, I highly recommend attending one or the other. The Sonex workshop happens at their location in Oshkosh about 3-6 times a year; the EAA workshops tour around the country so look at the website and hopefully one is happening close to you in the next couple of months. Their basic metal workshop is a great introduction to cutting parts, measuring & drilling holes, and getting hands-on experience with both pulled and driven rivets.


snip...

Just as a note - it is my understanding the factory workshops are morphing into SportAir workshops.

As I understand it, there will no longer be traditional workshops in the factory at Oshkosh

Re: Hello from Syracuse NY

PostPosted: Thu Mar 24, 2016 3:03 pm
by bvolcko38
Bryan Cotton wrote:Buy them! Or I will, though I don't technically need them.

Done!!!!!

Re: Hello from Syracuse NY

PostPosted: Thu Mar 24, 2016 3:45 pm
by bvolcko38
[quote="NWade"]From a fellow sailplane pilot (out on the west coast), welcome aboard!

Hope you're set for a multi-year adventure through time and space. :-) If you have any questions, never hesitate to ask them on the forum!

A couple of tips, which you may or may not already know:


I'll deff get the 1" belt sander...

Re: Hello from Syracuse NY

PostPosted: Thu Mar 24, 2016 6:33 pm
by fastj22
Get a decent first aid kit. Keep it where you can find it quickly while losing consciousness after you drill a new hole in your finger.

Re: Hello from Syracuse NY

PostPosted: Thu Mar 24, 2016 7:35 pm
by Bryan Cotton
I resemble that last tip! Healing nicely by the way. Since I am an authority there:
1) Buy the good brand name band-aids.
2) Buy real neosporin. The generic stuff hardens after a while and you will discover this too late.
Good deal on buying the clecoes. .20 each is hard to beat even if it is not enough. Every 100 helps!