Southern Ontario Sonerai 1

[Steve Stephenson]

I posted some information about my plane under the introductions thread but didn't want to make that thing any longer than it had to be. I picked it up in Sudbury, Ontario in October of 2020 in what I call a semi-neglected state. It is undergoing a basic restoration right now but I can foresee more in-depth work as the years go by. I will try to keep you updated with regard to progress and any modifications I've made on the airplane. I have been posting pictures under the "media" section. The album is Sonerai C-GZXY. I hope to get it flying in the Spring of 2021.

Here are some details on it:

Started in 1981 in Florida by a fellow named Max Grey.
Serial Number 00451
Finished by Claude Helie & Pierre LaCasse in Quebec in 2002
Originally had a vw 2180 but previous owner (3 owners ago), Gaston Dorval, swapped it for the current 1835, which I'm keeping.
It has an early Sterba "swept" propeller 52-48.

 

[Steve Stephenson]

Made a new wooden instrument panel for it out of a piece of scrap I had lying around. I could not bring myself to spend the money on a hole punch for an aluminum unit - so wood it was. I used an expansion bit to cut the instrument holes. Walnut stain. Holes were routered/chamfered then I used a black sharpie to further darken them before staining. Will varnish and install a support bracket before installation in the airplane and re-installing the instruments. The plan is to set the whole thing a further 2" toward the front. I will also move the canopy tie bar to the front hoop of the frame too.

 

[Elviar]

I like it!

 

[shocktrooper]

Made a new wooden instrument panel for it out of a piece of scrap I had lying around. I could not bring myself to spend the money on a hole punch for an aluminum unit - so wood it was. I used an expansion bit to cut the instrument holes. Walnut stain. Holes were routered/chamfered then I used a black sharpie to further darken them before staining. Will varnish and install a support bracket before installation in the airplane and re-installing the instruments. The plan is to set the whole thing a further 2" toward the front. I will also move the canopy tie bar to the front hoop of the frame too.

Looks great! That wood will have a naturally occurring vibration damping effect for your insturments too, as compared to rigid aluminum. But too much exterior urethane, varnish, etc. may diminish this small benefit. Yeah..looks very cool and nostalgic. If you,re a ‘blue collar pilot’ like mwah...ya gotta seek bang for buck anywhere ya can.

 

[CdnMedic]

Where abouts in Ontario are you? I'm currently posted out in Gagetown, but Simcoe ON is home for me and once we are free to do so again, I'll be headed home to visit. I have yet to see a Sonerai in person and wouldn't mind being able to check one out in the flesh... If to do anything but keep me motivated on building.

Also, where the heck are people up here finding these airplanes? I look on the upac site, kijiji and barnstormers. I'm not "looking" to buy, but if the right project ever came up...

 

[Steve Stephenson]

I'm in Windsor (not too far away from Simcoe) and you are welcome anytime to have a look and hang around the hangar - there's beer in the fridge at all times (for those that are not flying) that you don't have to pay for if you turn up (but donations are welcome - lol). I have a little military service myself. There's a Sonerai II on barnstormers (at least it was there last week) out west. Needs TLC. For $6500 it's a great deal. Told a buddy of mine out west about it but he can't make a move on it.

Only planning on one coat of varnish on the IP - just enough to seal it up. Just so you know, it was a crappy piece of flooring underlay but will do the job. I'll post pics when it's installed. The old one is already out.

Yes, I'm an official member of the Poor Boys Flying Club! I will use anything that's free or really cheap and is probably airworthy or can be made to be.

 

[Steve Stephenson]

Where abouts in Ontario are you? I'm currently posted out in Gagetown, but Simcoe ON is home for me and once we are free to do so again, I'll be headed home to visit. I have yet to see a Sonerai in person and wouldn't mind being able to check one out in the flesh... If to do anything but keep me motivated on building.

Also, where the heck are people up here finding these airplanes? I look on the upac site, kijiji and barnstormers. I'm not "looking" to buy, but if the right project ever came up...

Is 388 your last three? Totally military.

 

[CdnMedic]

Is 388 your last three? Totally military.

388 is my old motocross number.
I am military, was an Army medic for a number of years and now I'm a structures tech on the Griffon (bell 412).

I'm having my garage demolished and a new one put up this spring/summer so for the moment I'm doing my best not to acquire anything else that I have to find storage for. So far I'm just tinkering around on ribs until the new shop is up and then I'll be doing the fuselage and should make quick progress when I finally have the right place to build (insulated and warm). There aren't any Sonerai for sale up here in Canada at the moment as far as I can tell.

I did my initial flying out from Tillsonburg in the late 90s and was lucky enough to spend my summers hanging out around Bush hawk creek south of Straffordville... They have a great BBQ at the end of September, they have a little bit of everything flying in, WW1 aircraft, a slew of RVs, ultralights and the Harvards from Tillsonburg usually make an appearance at the crack of dawn to wake up all the campers. I'm very excited about the idea of flying to it in my own aircraft to say thank you to the mentors I had as a kid.

 

[Steve Stephenson]

Thank you for your service. I checked again too and the one I mentioned is not listed anywhere.

 

[Steve Stephenson]

A little more work on the instrument panel today. I swung the compass outside the aircraft. The thing is perfect, but when installed, it picks up a wicked field from the frame. Anyone ever do any mag shielding of that area?

My "old" 2015 Ameri-King 451 was installed too. It was brand new when the FAA got into it with Ameri-King and put out the AD that killed the company. Despite what the FAA says, it's a good little ELT. I'm going to keep certifying it until I can't any longer.

 

[skycrew]

Where abouts in Ontario are you? I'm currently posted out in Gagetown, but Simcoe ON is home for me and once we are free to do so again, I'll be headed home to visit. I have yet to see a Sonerai in person and wouldn't mind being able to check one out in the flesh... If to do anything but keep me motivated on building.

Also, where the heck are people up here finding these airplanes? I look on the upac site, kijiji and barnstormers. I'm not "looking" to buy, but if the right project ever came up...

Great question WTR388! They are few and far between. I’d love to find one. Like you said, I constantly search all the usual sites, but nothing. I currently own a 140 and operate out of Komoka, but fly into Tillsonburg all the time, great breakfast destination albeit close. Bushhawk is a must! Anyway, if you hear of something please let me know!

 

[Steve Stephenson]

Eyes peeled for you guys.

 

[Bil4381]

There are Sonerai's in Canada but they are so much fun to fly ,we don't really want to sell them. However I also have a Bakeng Deuce, open cockpit and while much slower is much less demanding to fly. I might be able to fly it for the Duration.
I'd never thought of selling my Sonerai 2 LS/J3300 but someone called me asking about the raised canopy, enlarged fin and rudder, displaced rudder pedals, hoerner wing tip, new fabric and silver paint. It goes on. . I told him everything. After an hour or more on the phone he asked if I'd sell it. Truth is never thought I'd sell it but he already had a Sonerai but wanted more. Mine gets 3300rpm and 127 HP from the Jabiru engine which indicates say 180 knots. You look down at a map, when you look back up you're in another county. He likes that.
I have invested way to much in it, but he said he could raise $16,000 US$. We have a deal, but then came C-19 and as a volunteer firefighter he was injured. He still says he'll buy it and with help trail/tow it back to Pennsylvania. You need a plane or two in Pennsylvania cause the railway got all the best right of ways. Terrible road system. Just like where I live. So if he is able to close the deal in 2021, my S2 is sold. If not I would sell it for say $25,000 CDN. Otherwise I'll fly it myself. I have no plans to place any ads anywhere. I tried to attach a photo, They seem too big. Later.

 

[CdnMedic]

Bil, your plane sure is a nice rig. I'll likely have $25g in to mine by the time I'm done. Part of why I'm building is I want to build. As much as I want to fly, I also day dream about how I'll do certain things, what tweaks I'll add to my airplane, how I want the cowl to look, paint schemes, avionics etc. The right project for me is a complete fuselage, wings done and not much else.
Doing ribs is tedious and not much fun however... I'm still tinkering on my forms but should be making more progress soon as my other projects are wrapping up.

I'm planning on wet hoerner tips myself. Wheel pants, gear fairings etc. All will likely be from CF since I have the skills and proper equipment to work with it and not worry about the cost since there shouldn't be any mistakes. I took an expedited advanced composites class at ENA in St. Hubert.
Maybe even a kevlar sandwiched composite main fuel tank.

 

[Steve Stephenson]

Panel work continues. Wiring and plumbing will get a do over soon. Then it will be time to start engine tweaking.

 

[shocktrooper]

Panel work continues. Wiring and plumbing will get a do over soon. Then it will be time to start engine tweaking.

Looks great! The very best loc. for your mag. Compass (ref. to your other post about wild indications swing, etc.) is on centerline up high in the top of the plastic/plexiglass bubble..inside of course. But working with what you have already...make sure ALL ferrous metal is as far away as possible from the instrument. Looks like your slip ball indicator has non brass screws and is mounted very close to the mag.comp. Pure brass or aluminum hardware ONLY is a must near the mag.comp. It doesn’t take much to pull it out of correct magnetic alignment. Try to also find and eliminate all dissimilar metal to metal contact in close proximity as this generates small electrical currents too, that may have some negative effect. Just trying to help & throwing out a trot line of sorts here, of things to consider, so your results may vary.

 

[Steve Stephenson]

Yes, the screws are temporary but were the ones that were in place in the old instrument panel believe it or not. There's also some hose clamps nearby that will be removed as well. I tried adding a weak magnet on the frame that "compensated" for the the other field and lined the compass right up but that is fraught with problems. I'll remove all ferrous metal in the meantime and see from there. Thanks.

 

[Steve Stephenson]

It's hard to tell from the photo, but I'm in the process of modifying upper cooling tins to become baffles. The panel work pulled me away from this job but when that wraps up, I'll be back on it. Overall, the plan is to have air move along the top of the cylinders and be coaxed downward via a curved surface. I will also be splitting incoming air to cool the cylinder heads. Baffle boxes were in place but, with the exhaust mods, they need a renovation. For $43 and some creative tin-snipping, I may have a solution. The tins are chrome plated of course - because I have a problem.

 

[Steve Stephenson]

So, the Instrument panel renovations are virtually complete and it will be time to move onto the engine baffles. I have enclosed some pics of an instrument panel extension I added. It got used for a bunch of things that helped tidy up the front of the cockpit and hangs under the angled frame elements in the forward cabin. I also used a scrap of the same piece-of-junk wood I had used for the instrument panel to cover the aluminum face. I will be redoing the floor and the control stick later. For now I'm sticking to my plan to get the baffles done first. A keen eye will notice that the throttle quadrant got a do-over as well. That little project (shockingly) consumed many hours. I have drawings for that too if anyone wants them.

 

[JondorB1]

Regarding your compass; I had the same problem. The steel uprights and canopy frame were magnetized. I used a TV degausser coil and made several passes along the fuselage uprights and canopy. After that I adjusted (swung) the compass and was able to get it to within a few degrees.