Jim Robinson Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 My buddy Larry called me earlier today and said he was making his maiden flight in his new Sonex homebuilt this afternoon. I apologize for not having any actual flight shots of the Sonex, I was using his camera rather than mine for the takeoff & landing shots, but here's a few I did get of the plane, and of various things around the airport during the 32 minutes he was aloft: First, here's the Sonex. Neat little airplane, I had a hand in the paintjob and some glass work on the cowling and wheel pants. Larry polished the bejeezus out of the aluminum himself, this thing is like a fishing lure when the sun hits it at 5000 ft. Engine is a Jabiru opposed six, I'm not 100% sure of the specs but I think it's 3000cc and 120 hp. Prop is fixed pitch laminated wood by Sensenich I believe. With it's six cylinders and V-tail, the Sonex looks and sounds like a mini-Bonanza running around up there. Everything you need is on the rectangular screen. I didn't pay a lot of attention but I think the two round "gauges' on either side are a com radio and transponder. Check out the reflection in that aluminum... This had recently dropped anchor in the tie down area, so I figured I'd better get some shots of it too. I think it's a Bellanca Cruisemaster of late 50s early 60s vintage. Looks like it could have been a predecessor to the Super Viking, no? Another angle... I was sort of proud of this shot, somebody landing one of the Northern Air rental Skyhawks. The guy had 3 nice looking young ladies with him. I vaguely remember those days Another homebuilt based on the field, he flies the wings off this thing almost daily. I think he flies down in the valley and splashes around in the river every chance he gets. This guy lands about like I do - 20 feet off centerline and on the wrong runway. Actually wind was dead calm so it was "runway of your choice", but everyone else was using 20. I think this might be a Kitfox MkV or Vixen taildragger or something. Nature Flow near the bottom of the shot. Another shot of the Sonex, this actually should have been the first shot, right after he fired it up and started to taxi. Larry's 82 yr old mother was one of the people standing around by the gas pumps which I thought was really cool. So, the maiden flight went off without a hitch. There was no messing around, Larry just jumped in at 4:00 PM local as planned, did a run-up, and firewalled it. P-factor apparently was a bit more severe than expected, he was 30 ft or so to the left of centerline when the wheels finally broke ground. Later he said he probably could have kept it under control had he been on top of it from the beginning, but he'd sort of let it get away from him and had full right rudder dialed in by the time the wheels broke ground. We got a "camera pass" prior to the actual first landing, Larry said he saw 161 MPH indicated at one point just before leveling off above the runway. Should be good for a few more than that though, he was babying the brand new engine. After another trip around the patch it was time for a landing. Some issues with the flap handle and an air load on the flaps limited him to two notches and left him with a bloody knuckle on short final. Other than floating down the runway a bit further than normal, the landing was uneventful, and from the camera viewfinder anyway, appeared to be a real squeaker. Oddly enough the front cylinder temps are a bit warm while the rearward cylinders are running cooler. Some modifications to the cylinder baffling are planned to hopefully bring the temps in line with the other 4 cylinders. The plane flies slightly right wing heavy. The wing is fixed solid, so trimming for hands-off flight I understand is done with the flap rigging. Tomorrow the cowling comes off and all the inspection holes get opened up for a close look at everything prior to the next flight. That's about it, hope someone enjoys the story & pics. I know I thoroughly enjoyed the day Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek McAllan Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 Great post! And a lovely looking build. Congrats to your mate. Cheers, Derek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griphos Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 Thanks for sharing! Great shots of a great plane and a great airport! I SO want to build one of those. Been thinking about it for quite a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolter van der Spoel Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 Great post Jim, Thank you for sharing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajc Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 Awesome post and pics! AJC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan2 Posted September 26, 2011 Share Posted September 26, 2011 Good snaps, thanks. Cant help looking at the second photo and thinking that the rudder cable looks a bit slack..I guess not I suppose Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Robinson Posted September 27, 2011 Author Share Posted September 27, 2011 Thanks much for the compliments on the shots guys, much appreciated. Alan, the rudder cables are only returned by a light spring that basically keeps the pedals from falling on the floor when your feet aren't on them, so they aren't under a great deal of tension. When you're flying, one foot opposes the other through the 'L-pedal < cable < rudders > cable > R-pedal' network, so pushing on both pedals at the same time would tighten the cables up. Or at least that's usually how it works, the V-tail arrangement may be rigged differently and I'm ashamed to admit that I never paid any attention to the mixer arrangement when we were painting it. Hopefully I can con Larry into taking me up for a flight when he get's the 40 hrs flown off, I'll bring the camera and post some shots if that happens. Thanks again, Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan2 Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 Yeah, well just make sure they do work like that before you take that flight ..lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amentiba Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 Great post , thanks for sharing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lthendrix Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 an enjoyable read and photos thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasmckee Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 loved the pics, i would hate to be polishing all that, it is just a magnet for bird drioppings, if they are like the birds here that is, wait for a nice shine object and then let rip!!! looks like a nice a/c though thanks for sharing Jason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain Emms Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 Yes i enjoyed reading this post and what a fine looking little plane that is indeed a job very well done. cheers Iain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cvearl Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 Thank you for sharing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Abernathy Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 Great read and good pics. Enjoyed it very much...thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Robinson Posted October 2, 2011 Author Share Posted October 2, 2011 I'm really glad you all enjoyed the pics! I see Larry had the Sonex out again this evening, he buzzed my house . I haven't talked to Larry personally since the maiden flight, but I stopped up and got the skinny from the boys in the hangar, so here's a little update. I understand he did some trimming on the engine baffling and got the cyl temps pretty well under control. He put something like 3.4 hrs on it in one session over the weekend and as I mentioned earlier, had it out again this evening. Didn't hear how he made out with the flap lever yet or the wing-heavy condition. He's got a larger tailwheel ordered, the original one was about the size of a skateboard wheel and he wants to be able to do grass strips. That's about all I know for now, but I'll keep you posted. Thanks for the comments guys, Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoolP Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 Very nice pictures and a great read. I had to laugh about the landing description with the 20 feet off centre + wrong runway. That's my style too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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