May 04, 2024     Fuselage Box Floor - (3 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Logged just over 7 hours of total build time (see next entry) today - it was awesome. Started out as a rainy Saturday and that prompted the need to go to the hangar.
The fuselage box floor was attached today. Ran into another head-scratcher - some of the bolts intersect such that there is not room for all of them. Very strange. The floor is 95% riveted to the fuselage box. I did not tighten the bolts for the cross members yet - I will wait until the inner wing work is done or close to done.

  May 04, 2024     Bottom Cross Member Attachment - (2 hours)       Category: Fuselage

This work was a good reminder why I chose not to set all the rivets around the areas where cross members and vertical frame members attach to the rest of the frame. There is not much room for drilling the bolt holes for the ends of the cross members.
By the way, I was NOT able to find where it calls for the bolts to attach the cross members to the frame. I searched the prints and I don't believe the information was there - pissed me off a little bit. The only reason I know is because of a set of videos that I purchased of a OneX build.
I'm completely wiling to be wrong but I was not able to find it on the prints.

  May 04, 2024     Glare Shield Detail - (3 hours)       Category: Fuselage

May have mentioned this earlier but decided to attach glareshield with screws for future access. May never need it but it gives me the option without having to drill out many rivets. I will likely have to cut out for the front holes that would otherwise be attached with the corner bolts in the frame.
Also, I added all the hardware in the yellow hardware trays to my NodeRED inventory application - I should never have to look for any parts or hardware again.

  Apr 07, 2024     Glare shield complete - (3.8 hours) Category: Fuselage

  Mar 16, 2024     Glare shield install - (0.55 hour) Category: Fuselage

  Mar 04, 2024     Upper firewall and glare shield - (1.1 hours) Category: Fuselage

  Mar 04, 2024     Firewall attachment. - (0.45 hour) Category: Fuselage

  Feb 21, 2024     Initial fitting of glare shield - (1.5 hours) Category: Fuselage

  Feb 21, 2024     Installation of flap handle detent - (1.05 hours) Category: Fuselage

  Feb 18, 2024     Final assembly of elevator control surface - (1.25 hours) Category: Fuselage

After a very long wait for the elevator control horn weldment to finally arrive (back ordered), we got back to completing the assembly of the elevator. Fitting the elevator to the stabilizer resulted in the need for a slight adjustment in the hinge placement. For this exact reason, the holes for he hinges on the stabilizer had not been up-drilled so this gave us the opportunity to make the necessary adjustments. It now fits as it is supposed to and with equal gap on both sides.

  Feb 18, 2024     Final assembly of elevator - (1.55 hours)       Category: Fuselage

  Feb 16, 2024     Final fitting of elevator on horizontal stabilizer - (3.30 hours) Category: Fuselage

  Feb 14, 2024     Initial fitting of elevator on horizontal stablizer. - (2.25 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Up-drilling of hinge holes allowed for necessary adjustment for perfect fit.

  Feb 03, 2024     Seat panel, fuselage box fuel tank cover - (3.15 hours) Category: Fuselage

As recommended by some other builders, I'm going to use nut plates to attach the fuel tank cover (I think that is what it is called) as it will make it easy to remove for maintenance and access. Great suggestion.

  Feb 03, 2024     Rudder cable pulley bracket assemblies - (2.75 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Well, you can just barely see them on this picture. I realize that I may have to remove the bolts to actually run the cable.

  Feb 01, 2024     Seat fabrication - (1 hour)       Category: Fuselage

I'm realizing that I don't have the best or highest quality metal brake but it works with a little extra effort. Seat panel is done including the hinge pins that will be used to attach it to the floor and back rest.

  Jan 31, 2024     Final riveting of fuselage box and firewall. - (2.8 hours) Category: Fuselage

  Jan 30, 2024     Final riveting of fuselage box - (1.4 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Installed and torqued all bolts for corner engine mount.

  Jan 29, 2024     Fore fuselage final assembly of sides and firewall. - (1.4 hours) Category: Fuselage

  Jan 28, 2024     Fuselage box final assembly - (10 hours) Category: Fuselage

Fore fuselage side panels and firewall.

  Jan 27, 2024     Lower firewall and engine corner attachments - (1.5 hours) Category: Fuselage

  Jan 25, 2024     Forward fuselage assembly - (2 hours) Category: Fuselage

  Jan 24, 2024     Forward Fuselage initial assembly - (2 hours) Category: Fuselage

Deburring and polishing of all parts.

  Jan 11, 2024     Final Installation of Turtle Deck - (3 hours)       Category: Fuselage

After final fitting, up-drilling, de-burring, temporary installation followed by riveting, the turtle deck (as it is called) which is the curved top of the aft fuselage is installed. It was a tight fit and seemed to "stretch" things a little bit but it's installed properly and looks good.
As the build goes on, I'm learning what I love about Sonex and their approach to delivering a kit. Most of the time, when I think some information is missing from the plans, I'm wrong. The information is more than likely there, it may just require some digging.
What I do find challenging is getting redirected to Sonex Aircraft suppliers when parts are missing. I spent a lot of time trying to hunt down a call for AN5-6A bolts (never did find them) and then had to order them from Aircraft Spruce. Way too much back-order management on the of the builder. Room for improvement.

  Jan 03, 2024     Initial Fitting of Turtle Deck - (1.75 hours)       Category: Fuselage

  Nov 23, 2023     Official Family Site Visit to the build - Thanksgiving Day! - (0.2 hour)       Category: Fuselage

We had fun sharing the update of the build with our family while we hosted Thanksgiving!

  Nov 05, 2023     Work Continues on Turtle Deck Fitting on Aft Fuselage - (2.25 hours) Category: Fuselage

Completed the initial drilling of the holes into the bulkhead sections in the aft fuselage. Thankfully, I had help aligning the "little black line"in the middle of the bulkhead tabs that line up with the pre-drilled holes in the turtle deck. The fuselage looks like a porcupine and I'm looking forward to up-drilling, de-burring and riveting.

  Oct 27, 2023     Aft Fuselage Assembly - (1.5 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Continued work on up-drilling, de-burring and riveting the bulkheads in the aft fuselage.
This may be a repeat image.

  Oct 23, 2023     Initial Fit of Turtle Deck - (2 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Completed the initial fitting of the turtle deck (I believe that is what they're calling the top, curved part of the aft fuselage). I was definitely a 2-person task and I'm happy with the fit. We also started the fitting and pilot drilling of the turtle deck skin to the bulkheads.

  Oct 21, 2023     Completed Front Bulkhead of Aft Fuselage (I think) - (1 hour) Category: Fuselage

With some minor tweaks and tuning, the box that makes up the top of the first bulkhead is now complete except for the part that is backorder. Sonex has shipped this part so I should see it soon. I'm also supposed to see the remaining AN hardware that is on back order from WB Parts.

  Oct 18, 2023     Front bulkhead in Aft Fuselage - (6.5 hours)       Category: Fuselage

The sides of the aft fuselage have been joined via the bulkheads. The front bulkhead in this aft fuselage assembly was a good challenge. The plans could use a little more detail - specifically, it would be good to have a couple of zoomed in sections showing the somewhat complex joining of many parts. Another note on this bulkhead - it seems more complex than necessary. I think there might be some opportunity for improvement and possible some opportunities for increasing the strength of this joint with the fore fuselage.

  Oct 14, 2023     Bulk head and Idler Assemblies - (3.5 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Work on the aft fuselage continues. The bulk head assemblies have been drilled to final rivet size, de-burred and are ready for assembly. I have spent a fair amount of time thinking about the order of assembly to minimize the amount of work that has to happen in tight, confined areas.
Sonex continues to prove themselves in providing good plans - in fact, the plans (in a few cases) make up for some of the parts not being perfect (e.g. location of pilot holes). No big deal and easy to reconcile with the good plans.

  Oct 11, 2023     Aft fuselage assembly - (2.1 hours)       Category: Fuselage

Assembly of aft fuselage continues. Waiting for missing part for front cross tie box.

  Oct 08, 2023     Right skin of aft fuselage - (7 hours)       Category: Fuselage

There was a fair amount of fabrication (mostly cleanup and bending of parts) this this section of the build. Once again the plans were complete and had all the information needed to assemble this part of the aft fuselage.
I'm quite happy with my DeWalt knock-off electric riveter. Rivet shafts occasionally get stuck in the nose of the tool but fairly easy to fix.
There was an improvement made to the time clock app which now has a section for looking up parts. This includes the ability to know if the part has already been used elsewhere. I don't anticipate that problem happening very often but there was one bracket that I installed on the vertical stabilizer that I spent a lot of time looking for when I started the aft fuselage. Lesson learned.
The program allow me to type in a part number and I get back number ordered, number packed, number received, number on back order and whether the part has already been used elsewhere. It also tells me the location in my shop where I can find the part (e.g. Shelf 1, Shelf 2, Drawer 1, Drawer 2, etc.).