Fathers day .. mount, pedals, throttle

Seems every time I work on this thing, I learn something new. Its alot of fun, and keeps the mind busy. 

I am confident in my welding ... but last night I realized again, that I am using too little heat in my oxy/ace setup. I used my #1 tip on my big handle to get that engine mount goin ... seemed my little victor junior wouldnt get it done. After the big, open areas were welded up .. I decided to go back to the Vic Jr. with an 000 tip. Figured I would crank up pressure to 10 psi on both ends, and set a big cone. It worked well. It heated up quickly .. dropped in some filler and got out. I get alot less carbon and crap buildup and less warpage to take care of later. Good Stuff. 

Mount done .. need to ream out the bushing holes again, and sand blast and powder coat. Should look good. 

The rudder pedal/cable attach point needs reinforcement. The plans call for 3/8 tube from the top of the tube where the cable attaches to up to the top corner of the rudder pedal. This creates an angle that I didnt like, as the way my foot sits on the pedal, the angle of the reinforcement tube would have been uncomfortable. So I can up with this, after debating other ideas. This is clean, nice and square, and allows toe brakes in the future. 

AeroVee sells a neat throttle quadrant that I like, but like anything else aviation, it is $$$. Thought I would try out my own throttle lever, using Monnet's measurements with a 3/4 tube attached. Its really comfy and feels .. "cool" in hand :) I am enjoying building MY airplane, that fits me. The Decathlon I rent has such a short stick, I actually hunch over a bit use it ... sucks. And due to the forward hunch, the throttle feels like its behind me. Anyhoo .. this plane will "fit" me, and I am pumped about that. 

engine mount correction

I got some errors to fix on my mount jig, mentioned in the previous blog. 

I set up my jig at 8 1/2 inches overall length for the mount ... the picture above is a "corrections" in the plans, but noted elsewhere in the plans it clearly states the overall length of the mount should be 10 inches, NOT 8 1/2 inches. 

I will shim out my jig, and start over. Glad I questioned some other builders .. though in the end I found the info in my own plans. 

So, READ YOUR PLANS ... COMPLETELY :)

I read them intently when I received them ... and my memory and instinct said 10 when I was building the jig for 8 1/2". The picture above shows 8 1/2 ... I suggest when this happens, stop work and research for a definate answer. 

I wasted a bit of material, as the tubes used in the previous blog are scrap. 

engine mount

Cutting, fitting, grinding and filing tubes. 5/8 x .035 chromo tube is used for the engine mount. 

I started on the lower tubes, as my jig is standing up .. which is wonderful to work with. Standing it up was a last minute idea, and sure glad i did. 

Starting with the bottom diagonal, I nothced the tube, then took off the upper motor mount and notched the upper part of the tube. Trial and fit, trial and fit until the upper mount lines up just right to slide the bolt in. Repeat for other lower tube. And move up to the next level. 

Worked great .. but the upper tubes, which are almost horizontal and almost a straight line from the forward mount to the rearward mount turned out to be a challange. I needed to offset the tube for bolt clearance, and then dropped the rear of the upper tube to the lower diagonal in hopes to get the bolt clearance I need. I am waiting for approval of this modification from some experienced Sonerai builders before I weld it all up. 

So side view ... forward, or engine is to the right >>>>

<<<<<<<<<Rearward, or firewal is to the left 

The bolts/clearance issue is the top left firewall mount. 

This was my "fix". To drop the upper tube .. I am concerned that since it does not connect directly to the mount, but rather the tube below, that it might not pass muster, or inspection. I hope to have opinions soon on Sonerai.net. 

You can see the offset needed for bolt clearance. This is all good .. and is the engine, upper, right side mount. 

Overhead of the top of the mount .. engine to right, firewall to left. You can see offset, and the left junction were I dropped the tube. Notice that it shows in this shot how the tube would go right into the bolt I had not dropped it down. 

I want this to work ... hope I get good news. I dont want to gussett this joint up and add weight and ugly-ness (that a word?).

Got my seat pan idea rollin' along. Setup my first layer, and it feels good to sit in and gives me the couple inches I want to sink into the S1. The turtledeck is the 15" the plans call for in height. The seat frame however, is a touch lower than plans. The tubes were measured out THAN notched and fitted ... in essence loosing a good 1/2" per tube. The seat framework sits very close to the control tube, but does not interfere. Again, I am 6'1" and I think will fit nice and cozy :)

Got to this point yesterday. 

And in the airplane .. so now I can really see the "dip" that I was looking for. Lots of work to do yet on this idea. But it should pan out ... pun inteded :)

Tonight ... I got to making a jig to form up the engine mount. Used dense particle board and layed out my measurements on each piece. Got a piece for the firewall side, and the engine side. 

This is the firewall side .. with my engine mounts bolted in place with 3/8" el'cheapo bolts. Plan was to make a fairly rigid jig, then add my 5/8 x .035 tubing. I will tack, and finish weld as much as i can in this jig before it bursts into flames :)

 

And the finished product ready to use. Simple, but aligning both sides was quite the chore. The 2x3's in the middle are glued to one side, all layed out on a circle I drew at the centerline. I used welding rod in the center to pre align, then spent some time getting it just so. I drew the centerline on each piece over the sides and top ... used a level straight up to get them perfect. All went well, and I am excited to get a mount out of this contraption. 

Canopy frame ..

Got to the canopy frame today. It was a ton of fun getting it togethor and watching it take shape on the airplane. 

3/8" x .035 tube, and the hardware you see in the pics for the latching mechanics is all cheap, mock up stuff. 

I have to make a disclaimer first ... I was told by another Sonerai 1 builder, who has a wonderfully built airplane, that the fuel tank that I am able to buy prefabricated is of different dimensions than the plans, and therefore interferes with the guage bow .. which is what the front canopy bow is based off of. Apparently it is longer .. which means different placement of the gauge bow than plans call for. After pondering this for a few days ... I decided to go ahead with the plans, and move forward. After ordering a cowl, money for a tank isnt available, nor do I want to have a tank sit around for 2 years. Gamble?? Yea, maybe .. but we will see in that stage of the game. 

So after a few hours of work, we got a working canopy frame. Spent some time on the latch's on each horizontal ... you can see the silver 2 bolts in the pics. I chose to put latches on both sides, as it will swing up, or easily come completely off. 

It is tougher than you think to make the curves match up ... I used the same technique on all four bows I bent up .. no heat, just a nice steady pull on each side and had great results. 

First thing, was to use some short 3/8 tube on each end to capture the inner sliding tube of the latch . Got them cut and formed and fitted. 

After that, I started fitting the bows, rear first. A little trimming and notching out, and tack it in. Then the front bow got the same treatment. 

The challenge tonight was the welding .. seems my Victor junior handle was having a hard time keeping a setting. Very irritating. And as a fairly inexperienced gas welder, I started with too little heat .. again a bit frustrating. But all worked out, and we were rolling. 

Example of the hinge setup .. this is front, left corner .. if you were in the cockpit. Not the prettiest welds, but they are plenty strong. 

So this is the setup I used at all for corners of the canopy. 

And the canopy opens, closes, and latch's very well. I have a safety lock device in mind, as I have heard of canopies coming open .. and I am not real excited about experiencing that. 

6-07-11

Not too much done today .. but try to do a little every day. Thinking of setting a goal of Oshkosh 2 years from now. I have been once ... in 1986. I was a young man, and went with my 2 uncles .. both commercial airline pilots. An amazing trip, never forgotten. My first time to see a real Pitts special in person ... and a Christian Eagle too. As a kid, I bought or borrowed brochures from these companies, just so I could "feel" it. Wish I had the Christian Eagle brochure still ... it was amazing! Very colorful, printed on photo style media ... I drooled for years on that thing. 

Ok, so cleaned out the failed seat pan foam .. and refoamed. It took, so will move forward on that idea. Looks silly .. but will use the variety of tools to chip away and make some sort of form for me to create a fiberglass seat pan ... goal is to "sink" me into the airplane.  It will work ...... :)

Again, not too much done .. middle of the work week ya know? 

These little things are my dash support mounts ... flat chromo sheet bent, drilled and formed out. 

Thats it for now. 

Made some progress today. Got my turtle deck bow formed and welded on. Also the gauge bow. I then made copies of the two to use for my canopy and mocked them up. Got the side rails of the canopy drilled and notched out for the latch system. 

Used an old cast iron skillet bolted to the work top. Worked so well!! I am using 3/8' x .035 so not real difficult to bend, but very happy with the results for such a low-buck idea.

Turtle deck bow welded up, pic shows rear canopy bow in progress. I was happy that I was able to get these bent and shaped almost identical. Same for the gauge bow and front canopy bow. 

Here is the start of my lowered custom butt pan. Will, or plan is to get another couple inches of "sink' into the airplane. I know it will work, as I sat in the plane without the wood pan. 

Using some foam spray, inside a 99cent paint tray. I split the tray, and dropped it down in on either side of the control tube below. After a few hours to dry and set, I find out that the top is nice and dense .. the foam in the bottom is wet, and super thinned out ... no air! Might have to do this in layers, or bite the bullet and buy some real filler material to use. Plan is to make this mold, then sand away to get my shape. Then I will make a  fiberglass pan over the mold and walla! .. new, lower seat pan with a comfy contour. 

All four bows in place. The T-deck and gauge bow are welded in, and I am mocking up the canopy. Got my side rails sitting in there, and they are notched out ready for the latching set-up

Getting late, but I wanted to play with mocking up the stringers. I lower stringers on each side only go to station 5, or about half way to the tail. Notice the left of the bottom pic .. I top stringers per plans attach to the vertical stab uprights .. but that makes the tail look "chubby" to me. I want to draw them in a bit, and the short string tying' two togethor in the back is my attempt at getting a preview of what the covered fuse will look like with the stringers set in about 1/4" or more. 

Rudder pedals .. cables and guides

Rudder pedals, cables and cable pulleys. 

Pedals in, cables attached .. 

Pedals in ... 

So the finished part .. see what I mean about not perfect? It looks good .. but could be better :)

Finished part .. strong, light, and able to get the cables in and out. 

I made a plate to fit the diagonals, and heated and bent a lip on the forward side for rigidity. Once in place, I gas welded it in and then drilled the holes from below using the original pulley holes for a perfect fit. You can see that the clevis wont pass through ... and after I was done, the professional way to do it would have been to form the part before I welded the plate in. My plan worked fine, and will work great. Its much easier to make a part "perfect" on the bench than in the structure. 

You can easily see why the "U" shape wasnt used .. clevis wont pass through

Top plate in place

I needed to complete the rear pulley set-up. The plans call for a "U" shaped mount, for each pulley, welded to a diagonal on each side. Issue was, the sweet rudder cables clevis end wont pass through the thin "U". So a plate was used, and thats not enough. I decided to expand on the plate, and get it strong and light. 

4130 chromo sheet that will be used.

Rear pulley set-up .. ready for some work. 

Today I got some work done. Spent a few hours finishing up the rudder pedals, hooked up the cables and then finished up the rear pulley mounts. 

Finished the cable mounts .. 

My "jig" to hold the parts for gas welding up ..

On the Sonerai 1, the plans call for mechanical toe brakes. You notice the rearward angle of the cable mounts I made up .. this goes along with the cables used to actuate the mechanical brakes. Needless to say, I will be using hydro brakes, and not on the pedals. The plan is to use a lightweight, two lever set-up, just under the seat.

Sonerai 1 project ... fabrication

I am going to show a few pics of the fuse construction of my S2 for reference. It shows some of the work that has gone into the S1 up to the point before I got it. Its not just cut, place, and weld. There are strict measurements that must be followed. The plans for these aircraft are very specific, and very  challenging to decipher at times. Part of the fun is trying to figure out what you looking at or reading, and turning that information into a finished product. It really does form before your eyes, and the process is a really cool journey into the construction and inner workings of an airplane. 

First day, tables joined and leveled. 

Typical "cluster" joint. 

Laying out tubing, side one.

Measuring out each diagonal

Typical tube notch

Another joint .. fit them snug!

First side tacked .. 

Two sides tacked, up and joining togethor. 

Sonerai 1 project

Sonerai 1 Formula Vee

Click on pics for fullsize

Monday, 5-30-2011 and I am starting my blog on this Sonerai 1 I just found in CA. I am currently building a Sonerai 2, which is a stretched out 2 seat version of the original Sonerai 1 formula vee racer. I drove down from Salem, Oregon to pick up the S1 I purchased, primarily for parts. It was a great deal, and who doesnt want more than one toy! 

Dont know what a Sonerai is?? Sonerai 1 pics ...  

Well, once there, looking over the little S1, a smaller version of the S2 I have in the garage at home, and looking through the boxes of parts, pieces, AN bolts, wing ribs, etc that the owner was sending with me, I knew I had a decision to make. Originally, I found the single seat design very attractive, and chose the two seat model because of it. I thought the two seater would have the "looks" of the original, and be able to take the family up. It was a compromise of sorts, a way of including the family in my passion for aviation and aircraft. 

Now home, and both aircraft side by side ... my 2 seater looks like a tank, or better yet, a bottle-nosed dolphin. Its much longer, its wider, and has wings that are 2 feet wider ... all with the same powerplant. I know the front cockpit in the 2 seater is intensely claustrophobic, and with a wife terrified of flying, but promising to go ONCE, the Sonerai 2 two seater was starting to fade from the limelight. And, the single seater if built clean and light may hit 200 mph flat out ... awesome numbers for a 80 hp aircraft. The 2 seater ... 140 on a good day, and a 500 fpm (foot per minute) climb out with 2 passengers. 500 fpm is nerve racking for this guy ... I like to climb when I need to.

Decision made! I will mothball the Sonerai II 2 seater project I have started, and contiue moving forward on the S1 project. The previous owner and his brother have done great work to the point it is at in the vid below, and the project stopped as they both moved forward in life, career, and family. My goal is to build a really cool Sonerai 1, built to plans, and maybe even colored in the original Mopar green as the original. Then, I will call up the two brothers and invite them to fly the plane they started as a team. Cool stuff. 

A quick video of the Sonerai 1 on its gear, next to my Sonerai 2 fuse I brought out for comparison.

In Rosamond, at the owners place, I was looking over the S1 and we were chatting aircraft. He seemed to stop every now and then, and pull another box of parts out to send with me. The wing ribs were a big one ... a complete set, with the form block and a few laser cut blanks. Wow! Then came rudder pedals with toe brakes and cylinders ... just gets better. Then, the complete AN nut and bolt kit for the aircraft and custom made rudder cables. Once home, I found some laser cut parts that I had planned on making from scratch .. Nice! They were serious about building this airplane, and had the knowledge and persistence to do it right. I have no doubt if they stuck it out, this would have been a safe, fast, fantastic airplane.  

Till next time,