Southern Ontario Sonerai 1

[Steve Stephenson]

We bought the one "out west"

Tony Walcott's? Good for you! Where will you be based out of?

 

[Steve Stephenson]

I see you meant the yellow and blue one. Congratulations on your purchase!

 

[yaw_string]

I see you meant the yellow and blue one. Congratulations on your purchase!

Yes, the yellow and blue one. Tony's seems like a nice little machine too though! Based in central Alberta.

 

[Bruce23]

Yes, the yellow and blue one. Tony's seems like a nice little machine too though! Based in central Alberta.

Congratulations, I was looking at GZIG as well. Looks like you got a good deal. The timing was a bit soon for me. I will be looking harder near the end of the summer, ideally a low wing in Western Canada. Tony's is a nice little plane I went out and had a look after he got it.

 

[Steve Stephenson]

Big day today. I took the airplane out on the ramp for the first time since I started working on it and started it up. To my amazement, it started up on the first try. My buddy Jeremy was on hand with a fire extinguisher in the event it all went wrong - but no issues. No leaks. No crazy readings. Great throttle response and even the carb heat was functional. Jeremy took a video that I will post later.

So, next up is the canopy installation and putting the wings back in place. Some cosmetic touches will start happening now simultaneously with the taxi trials. BTW the tachometer (Tiny Tach) is not functional, so that will have to be replaced. I'll check with Bennet Avionics again to see if they have anything.

Video link: https://youtube.com/shorts/IQ44EkF72co?feature=share

 

[mhflyit]

Looks perfect! Well done!

 

[Steve Stephenson]

Looks perfect! Well done!

Thanks very much. Covid lockdowns have been a perfect motivator.

 

[Steve Stephenson]

I've been talking about the canopy for a while. Here it is installed. I used a Dremel over several passes and finished all the edges with a fine file. I had the old canopy on hand to use as a trim guide and somewhere to hold the canopy while trimming took place. The whole assembly was taped to a large piece of cardboard that sat on a table. A 3/8" gap has been left at the back edge that will be stuffed with breathable foam and secured in place with aluminum flashing. The plan on the flashing is to leave two 4" sections open on either side to facilitate cabin ventilation with no aerodynamic penalty. I also gained another 1/2" of headroom. The old canopy was a green tinted unit. The new one is smoke grey.

Again, I cannot get over how well Jeff at Airplane Plastics in Ohio was able to match the curvatures required. Big vote of confidence from me and many thanks to him and his team. I should also mention how reasonably priced he was.

 

[Steve Stephenson]

The lower cowling was finished off a couple of days ago but I forgot to include it. Some may hate this idea but I made my own air filter for it using a washable furnace filter sandwiched between two pieces of galvanized 1/4" mesh (chicken wire). Enclosed is the finished product. I used a shop vacuum to test the functionality of the filter which consisted of listening to the vacuum for any kind of fluctuation. I also put a piece of paper in front of the filter and it got sucked in pretty good. It did not have anything other than a mesh on it before and I felt, at the time, it could be a real bug eater. I'll keep a close eye on the whole thing. The filter unit is secured with two screws and nyloc nuts.

 

[Steve Stephenson]

The wings went on today thanks to help from my daughter (whose arms were skinny enough to push the tapered pins into place with the wing on). Still dropped washers and nuts. It's amazing how such a small cabin can seem so big when your reaching for that thing you dropped.

Lots of fun anyway and am happy to see it look like an airplane now.

I have a question for those who may know:

The rear spar is held in place by a nut and bolt. That's not the issue. The placement of the hole is terrible.. It's in such close proximity to other weldments that it's impossible to use anything but the smallest nut and getting the bolt in is a nightmare. So, the question is, with it now assembled, could I drill a new (more conveniently) located set of holes for the rear spar? Would that weaken the system?

I know it needs a wash. lol.

 

[Steve Stephenson]

Had it running again today but it blew a bunch of oil out of the valve cover on the right side. It was quite impressive actually. So, the right wing and firewall are waterproofed now. I'm thinking about ditching the beautiful aluminum valve covers in favour of the original steelies. Open to suggestions. Anyone know how to tighten these up? Using new cork gaskets.

 

[Steve Stephenson]

Well everyone - it's done. Or as Young Frankenstein said; "It's alive!"

I gave it a wash and ran it around the ramp (It has a really crappy turning radius due to a non-castoring tail wheel and my mechanical brakes have very limited stopping power - but I don't think I care.) and then down the runway three times. It was actually the third time running the engine. This time, I let it get pretty hot. I took the cowling off post run and it appears the engine is oil leak free.

With some small tweaks and a little luck, it will fly tomorrow.

Two things of note: Those chrome cooling baffles I made looked cool but didn't work so I went back to baffle "boxes" on each side and, as mentioned above, the aluminum valve covers were also ditched in favour of the original steel units. Now I have some really cool potato chip serving trays.

Many thanks are in order to those who helped and continue to assist. My daughter Corah, my niece Elicia, My good friend Jeremy, Seth and Auriel (pictured earlier) all helped greatly. We nicknamed ourselves "13 Squadron" which I'm now making tee shirts for.

Time for the registration to go back on and slap on a racing number.

 

[Steve Stephenson]

Took it for another run today and accidentally flew it. Flies great but I landed it like I'd never flown a plane before. Hot mess. Of course, it was in front of a crowd (socially distanced of course).

My airspeed indicator reads low and lags really bad, so I was off the ground before I thought I was even near that speed. That unit has to go. I'm telling myself the crappy landing was because I was caught off guard and didn't actually know my speed at any point. Oh well - let the games begin.

Picture of it with registration and number.

 

[eschrom]

Congratulations on the first flight and safe landing. She's a beaut!

Ed

 

[Steve Stephenson]

Congratulations on the first flight and safe landing. She's a beaut!

Ed

Thanks Ed

 

[Bil4381]

Re airspeed
The Sonerais have numerous pitot connections between the Pitot head and the airspeed. I'd disconnect the pitot line at the airspeed and use soapy water to leak check connections. 5 psi is lots. Then I'd send the airspeed in for servicing. The new airspeeds are third class compared to an old airpath or???
A friend of mine put a new model in a new Epervier and it lasted one summer.
re landings. I'd try to get some dual in something hotter. One thing you want to learn is to hold centerline in all conditions + - one inch. Really!
I did my advanced dual in a Maule Rocket. Bill E

Took it for another run today and accidentally flew it. Flies great but I landed it like I'd never flown a plane before. Hot mess. Of course, it was in front of a crowd (socially distanced of course).

My airspeed indicator reads low and lags really bad, so I was off the ground before I thought I was even near that speed. That unit has to go. I'm telling myself the crappy landing was because I was caught off guard and didn't actually know my speed at any point. Oh well - let the games begin.

Picture of it with registration and number.

 

[Steve Stephenson]

Re airspeed
The Sonerais have numerous pitot connections between the Pitot head and the airspeed. I'd disconnect the pitot line at the airspeed and use soapy water to leak check connections. 5 psi is lots. Then I'd send the airspeed in for servicing. The new airspeeds are third class compared to an old airpath or???
A friend of mine put a new model in a new Epervier and it lasted one summer.
re landings. I'd try to get some dual in something hotter. One thing you want to learn is to hold centerline in all conditions + - one inch. Really!
I did my advanced dual in a Maule Rocket. Bill E

Thanks Bill. I will be checking the line AND changing the unit out for, you guessed it, an old one that works really well. Did I also mention that the Tiny Tach packed it in too?

 

[Steve Stephenson]

We'll folks, the pitot line was blocked with mud. Probably from a mud wasp. Airspeed indicator was taken out and bench checked. No issue other than it's in knots, so it went back in. New tach goes in tomorrow.

 

[Steve Stephenson]

Everything is now functional. The testing and flying will now resume.

 

[Bil4381]

When I bought my sonerai II, there was a mud dauber in the pitot tube. Really matters to have a close fitting pitot tube cover and maybe a velcro to keep it in place. Bill E

Everything is now functional. The testing and flying will now resume.