SonexBuilders.net

Are all of the Turbovee's grounded? Are we not gonna see any at Crossville? That would be a shame ...

No the turbos are not all grounded. If everything is working normally and they are getting full boost they need to make sure the center section of the turbo is clocked properly and change the oil to the new recommended oil. Mike Farley and I are the only ones I know of that are grounded so far. If I get this thing airworthy in time for Crossville I will be there (weather dependent).

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I have been saying for years, and getting blasted on here for it, but Sonex does this kind of thing all the time. The majority of the test period was done only in the engine test cell. They do not fly and test this stuff as much as it is made out to be and then blame the builder when something is doesn't work.

Except for the T-flights, they really do not fly as much as they make it appear.

Some on here think I have a beef with them, and yes maybe I do a little because I have worked there and seen it first hand and have and still do feel they are taking shortcuts that can cost people their lives. That is why I am so outspoken about it.

I hope all of you guys with the turbo get your birds back up and running safely soon.

Mr. Mike Beck,Oh how wrong you are, IMHO .....

-Surely the best place to test a new engine concept is in the test cell, but unless you are at the Sonex factory I am thinking you have no idea how often the Sonex aircraft fly. I have made many trips to Sonex during my aircraft build and more often than not there was a Sonex in the air, on the ground getting ready to fly, or returning from a flight. I spend 3 weekends at the Airventure grounds prior to Airventure, and sure enough there are Sonex aircraft in the air. Someone is not going to claim more hours in the air than actual when it is easy to see aircraft hours in a log book or engine hour meter.

-I do not see anything in the service bulletin blaming the builder for anything. They have simply made everyone aware of a problem and a solution, with a promise of more information to follow. Isn't this the purpose of a service bulletin?

-Please do not bother posting negative comments unless something positive can come out of it, and yes you make if very obvious you have issues, no wonder you are an ex-employee of Sonex?

Terry

I would be the absolute last person to accuse the factory of anything less than the best intentions and ethics. I have been a Sonex fanboy. But I work at a family business and have been there from the beginning, and family run businesses have their own set of extremely weird dynamics and tensions. From my experience when there is a disgruntled employee, a lot of things, feelings, beliefs and situations become exaggerated on both sides. Almost like a marriage with a problem there is his story, there is her story, and then there is the truth.

Personally I like to hear that "disgruntled" side... to a point. I take it with a grain of salt. It may not be the truth, but in my experience there usually a seed or small element of truth to it.

The turbo issue does not bother me quite so much - it seems that they have identified a real issue and are describing (at least temporary) fixes. That being said, I am sorry to say that if I were doing my initial investigation of the project now I may not have jumped in. What really sold me was the combination of the airframe with the Aerovee. Now my level of concern is medium-to-high. I really hate to think about this, but two factory planes have been destroyed now from what seem to have both been started from loss of power incidents. Thank God that we have a CFI who can describe to John what they experienced with the engine.

dbdevkc wrote:- Now my level of concern is medium-to-high. I really hate to think about this, but two factory planes have been destroyed now from what seem to have both been started from loss of power incidents. Thank God that we have a CFI who can describe to John what they experienced with the engine.

You are not the only one bothered by this. I understand the factory's position and why they are probably reluctant to comment on either accident before the NTSB report is published but the lack of any discussion or comment from them does not make me exactly comfortable flying behind my aerovee. It has been over a year since the first accident and still no explanation. If I were building today I do not think I would be installing an aerovee at least until I know what happened. I have actually thought about selling my FWF setup and going a different route because of the high rate of unexplained loss of power not just in factory aircraft. Loss of power on takeoff is one of my worst fears as a pilot.

Keith
#554

The AeroVee seems to be a mixed bag.
Some folks have great sucess with them and love their engines.
Others not so much.
I never had any luck with mine.
High CHT's, oil leaks, ignition and carb problems.
I finally gave up on the AeroVee after a rocker arm broke and I had to make a dead stick landing.

I believe the Aerovee and Corvair to be the only kit engines out there. Its built by a wide variety of skill sets and to wide set of personal standards. Its not a factory built engine like the Jabiru, Rotax, Revmaster or even Great Plains (although I think you could buy a GP as a kit at one point). So I can understand why there is a spectrum of success with it. Corvairs at least have the Corvair Colleges to help builders.

Although I'm pretty handy with tools and can occasionally follow directions, I'd be a bit intimidated building one.

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:lol: