Well good lesson learned this week. Tech Counsellor Chuck Stottlemeyer came and looked over my Sonerai project and we worked up a list of *Squawks* to be fixed from the 1st builders work and he critiqued my work to-date.
Lessons learned:
1. I think now that I would have done better to get a Sonerai experienced Tech Counsellor to look at the plane at the initial purchase. Not to downgrade the excellent help mine did provide. He did tell me he was not Sonerai specifically knowledgeable. I think now he would have caught a lot more of the cold weld issues and deviations from plans dimensions if he had been. Probably even more relevant would be I should have better educated myself about what to look for prior to buying rather than later. In the end I got lucky and this project will still be workable.
2. Never, never, never charge ahead and start assembling parts or doing any irreversible operation if I have any doubt about my ability to do it to airworthy standards. I have riveted my right spar after many hours of parts making only to jeopardize the whole because my riveting was way too heavy handed.
Live and learn..."this is a recreational and educational experience." Chuck S.
Peter
Lessons learned:
1. I think now that I would have done better to get a Sonerai experienced Tech Counsellor to look at the plane at the initial purchase. Not to downgrade the excellent help mine did provide. He did tell me he was not Sonerai specifically knowledgeable. I think now he would have caught a lot more of the cold weld issues and deviations from plans dimensions if he had been. Probably even more relevant would be I should have better educated myself about what to look for prior to buying rather than later. In the end I got lucky and this project will still be workable.
2. Never, never, never charge ahead and start assembling parts or doing any irreversible operation if I have any doubt about my ability to do it to airworthy standards. I have riveted my right spar after many hours of parts making only to jeopardize the whole because my riveting was way too heavy handed.
Live and learn..."this is a recreational and educational experience." Chuck S.
Peter
