May 24, 2024     Aligning the Ram Air Ducts with the Cowl - (8 hours)       Category: Cowl

The Ram Air Ducts required a significant amount of modification to fit under the cowl. These ram air ducts were designed for a Jabiru aircraft - which has a much larger cowl. Getting close.

  May 10, 2024     Fitting the Ram Air Ducts - (2 hours)       Category: Cowl

The next task is to align the ram air ducts with the cowl openings - providing a smooth pathway for the engine cooling air to enter the cowling.

  May 02, 2024     Matching the Upper and Lower Cowl split lines - (3 hours)       Category: Cowl

Now that I have the upper cowl fitting properly onto the lower cowl - I'm working to get the split line even - upper to lower. Had to add some filler to the lower cowl in some spots - and to the upper cowl in other spots.

  Apr 30, 2024     Upper Cowl Cleco'd - (3 hours)       Category: Cowl

The upper cowl is finally close enough that I could drill for the cleco's. Next I'll begin to fit the upper cowl to the lower cowl for a finish fit.

  Apr 28, 2024     Wear Tabs - (2 hours)       Category: Cowl

I made some wear tabs for the cowl

  Apr 28, 2024     Wear Tabs Installed - (2 hours)       Category: Cowl

Because of the modification that I have made to the upper cowl - the upper cowl snaps in place under the windscreen skirt. I was concerned that this snapping action may chip the paint after a few installations. So, I have epoxied in an aluminum wear strip into each side of the upper cowl. Hopefully the aluminum will stand up well during installation.

  Apr 05, 2024     Fitting the Upper Cowl - (8 hours)       Category: Cowl

The upper cowl fiberglass piece was actually not very well made - it did not fit to the lower cowl at all. Basically, I'm re-making the entire piece. Still a long way to go.

  Mar 25, 2024     More modifications to the lower cowl - (2 hours)       Category: Cowl

The exhaust pipes interfered with the exhaust tunnels - so, I had to modify them. The lower cowl is now fitting well and ready for the hinge fasteners.

  Mar 22, 2024     Epoxy with Micro-balloons - (2 hours)       Category: Cowl

I'm working on the radius around the openings in my cowl. Epoxy with micro-balloons is lightweight and easy to form. I've used Styrofoam as the filler material.

  Mar 22, 2024     Exhaust Tunnels - (1 hour)       Category: Cowl

Exhaust Tunnels - fitted and cleco'd in

  Mar 21, 2024     Lower Cowl - (8 hours)       Category: Cowl

The lower cowl had to be fitted to the fuselage. This required trimming along the sides as well as two clearance holes in the front - one for the camshaft cover and one for the oil line in front. Next was to install the large side outlet vents and finally the exhaust tunnels. This is still work in process - a lot of finish work still remains.

  Mar 09, 2024     Upper Cowl attachment modification - (3 hours)       Category: Cowl

The Sonex Upper Cowl is believed to be the single most difficult part to fit - and most importantly install. Per the drawings, the cowl is intended to fit under the windshield skirt, and then held in place by fasteners from the top. I decided to fabricate a "shelf" for the upper cowl to rest on during installation. I want the top of the cowl to align with the top of the windshield skirt - so, I needed a spacer the same thickness as the cowl. My cowl measures between .100" and .120" - so, a .125" aluminum strap is almost perfect.

  Mar 05, 2024     Fitting the Cowl - (8 hours)       Category: Cowl

Lower cowl is fitted. I'm afraid this was the easy one. I had to cut clearance holes for my camshaft cover and one oil line. The large hole in the center is the oil cooler air inlet. All of these will be fiber glassed over prior to paint.