SonexBuilders.net

Been watching your posts for a while and so happy you got it in the air. Congratulations!!

"Chett" was sold to a lad who works for Piper Aircraft about a year and a half ago. Sans engine. He didn't want the Aeroveeish anyway as he had plans to install a Continental O-200.
Regular updates from him showed that it was more than a pipe-dream and the perpetrator had some real talent in the engineering and fabrication fields.

Thanksgiving morning I received a note from Doug proclaiming "Chett" (now known as the "Skunk Ape") once again has won the battle against gravity proving it is possible if not sanctioned.
The early numbers show CHTs below 300deg, oil temps stable at 190, and 135kts at 2400rpm.

For those of you who do not know..........the Skunk Ape is Florida's version of Bigfoot. A largely mythical creature that has been discussed at length, searched for in earnest, but until recently, has never been actually seen in real life.

Welcome all to the Planet of the Apes.

Randy

Thanks for the kind words Randy. The Skunk Ape is a sweet airplane, I look forward to continued adventures with it.

hi doug

great job on the conversion. looks great!


michael.

The Waiex looks great! I’d love to see more pictures of the firewall forward someday.

Great work!

Welcome to the forum! I am also interested to hear and see more.

To avoid multiple PM replys, here's an early synopsis:

I don't have any ambitions of making more mounts or cowls. Both were fabbed 'in situ" with minimal tooling or fixturing.

The prop hub is in the per-plans location in both Station and Waterline.

My O-200A is an experimental build with higher compression pistons.

The prop is a Sensenich 58 x 67. With the Tracy O'Brien steel gear legs (which are stiffer than Ti) and 5.00x5 tires it is almost exactly the 9" level prop clearance that Part 23 requires for certified airplanes. Both of my 2 landings so far have been relatively fast wheel landings (biz jet traffic behind me and tower requesting for max speed on final) without issue. The certified O-200a redline is 2750, and mine seems to turn 2800 level and WOT indicating 150 kts, so it seems that Steve at Senenich got the prop near-perfect. The prop has the Sonex tapered hub shape for the billet skullcap spinner, but the O-200A without a prop extension is so blunt up front that it worked out better to hide it behind a Vans FP13 spinner. I have not made any attempt to measure pitot/static position error yet so don't get too excited about airspeed. Takeoff and climbout at sub-1,000 lb solo weight is a grin-inducing deck angle without trying.

The exhaust is a used stainless 4 into 2 pair off a Zenith 601XL, and the carb heat/air filter box is Cessna 150.

It weighed 693 lbs on calibrated, certified aircraft scales with full oil and wheel pants and leg fairings installed. However, to get to the forward limit with full fuel and just me in the seat, I had to add 12 lb total (sum of ballast + a small radio battery) in the crotch of the V-tail. So it may as well be 705 empty.

It has no starter or alternator. A small B&C alternator would fit if desired but a starter will not.

For most builders, similar performance can probably be had with a Rotax 912S on factory mount, or Corvair on SPA mount. I am happy with the result of this build, but it is not a marketable product, just my personal vision.

Happy building and flying. -Doug

I have deleted this engine installation photo montage, due to uncomfortable PM's asking for detailed drawings, parts, and engineering advice. I'm not in that business.

Happy experimenting, building, and flying everyone.

Thanks for sharing the pictures in progress.