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,