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Sonerai One - Serial Number 012412-1179

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bobthebuilder

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 16, 2012
Messages
183
Location
Johannesburg, South Africa
Hi guys,

I am just starting a Sonerai One build.

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It will be my first build, so any comments and suggestions are welcome. If something looks, .... well ..... dodgy ..... please say so. Any advice and assistance will be appreciated.

Okay ....what's been done so far?

1) Plans and informational media obtained In March 2012.
2) Build number application from the CAA obtained.
3) Bought a book on tubular airframes to see how hard it could be. (oh f*@k .... lots of welding)
4) Maybe "AC 43.13-1B Acceptable Methods, Techniques, and Practices" aint a bad toilet read either.
5) Banished cars from garage and bought a few new toys. (AC/DC TIG welding kit, disc sander, compressor etc .... when it comes to tools, I'm like a chick in a shoe store!)
4) Bought a Dummies book on welding. (Not really sure why, because us home builders are only allowed to tack the bits together anyway ... oh right ... there were way too many knobs on the face of the welding machine .... that do WHAT?????)
7) Our dining room table was a tad small, so I built a longer one. (Wife removed it from the dining room though, not really sure why? ...... it's a MASTERPIECE!) Used it to learn how to cut tube, and practice making bird sh@# welds on square tube. This did take just a tad longer than expected, like .... THREE MONTHS! It was a whole bunch of fun, and is square and flat. (just don't look too close .... okay! ... no really!) Painting was also lots of fun, just not for our dom-es-teek Caroline. She cursed for days about the layer dust that settled throughout the entire house. (yawn .... Ja ... so what!)
8.) Marked up the centre lines on the table. After sitting on the table between the web of lines, I'm not entirely convinced that I'll fit in the cockpit. Nothing that a bit of dieting won't fix.... okay okay ..... A LOT! (I may have to revert to lipo suction or some other equally painful surgery closer to completion :shock: )
9) Started on the rudder pedals because they are small and cheap to remake if I really mess them up with my AC/DC bird sh@# making machine.
10) Started on the brake pedals.

...... and that is where we are at present.

Pics to follow.
 
The Elevator Torque tube starts its life out as a round tube that is crimped on each end.
How hard could it be? .... cut pipe, squash each end in the vise, grind each end round, and drill a hole...... one hour should do it right .... TOPS! [this is so easy!)

Okay ...... well ..... the first crimp in the vise looked a bit crap!
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The reality is that trying to hold the pipe with one hand, the torch in the other and trying to use my elbow to turn the handle on the vise didn't work the way ..... BLAH BLAH BLAH!

The marks left by the vise jaws made it look real home made, but it was the stark change in radius that worried me more. This had to be a stress riser.
I WANT A RADIUS! .... how hard could it be ... i'll make a simple tool ... okay, add another hour.... (REALLY! ..... nah dude!!!)

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The plan ..... put this MASTERPIECE into the vice, and then squash the S@#t out of it!
something like this .....
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In comparison, it looks...... well better!
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A collar had to be made to get the length right. Still not happy though!
I'm starting to understand why it's called an EXPERIMENTAL aircraft!
okay .... tool number two coming up!

Make up some of these:
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..... and weld it to all this stuff ..... and! PRESTO! ...... It's a-l-i-v-e!

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Once this had the s@#t squashed out of it, it came out looking a bit better:
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This simple one hour job took THREE F@#$%^g WEEKS!!!!
 
Getting into the swing of this now. Time for the Elevator Idler.

I had to make the side plates twice, because I cut them from the wrong thickness material. Dumbass!
The plate (4130) was ordered from the states which took a little over a week to arrive. (Shot Hennie!)
There was some cheating involved. The plates were laser cut! (don't tell anyone), and annealed afterwards.
Hard to put a timeline on this, but it took about two evenings to assemble after all of the parts were made. I guess it took about three weeks to make this.
Ahhh..... yes! I had to make a mandrel to crimp the tube end. This was used in conjunction with the last crimping tool.








So far, I'm finding the build to be hugely enjoyable and very rewarding. Lots of late nights and grumpy mornings though.
 
Back to the Rudder Pedals.

They should look like this:
RudderPedal.png


The brake cable tubes were milled with a 1mm carbide end mill. A band saw probably would have done the job perfectly well, but milling seemed way more over complicated [translated: fun]
They took around forty minutes to cut each, and caused some production delays and plenty of cursing at work. [BLAH BLAH BLAH!]

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A few more bits:
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And we get this:
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Unfortunately ..... Dumbass over here cut this tube about 2mm too short and will have to re-make it. It took two evenings to get it to this point.
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Okay ..... managed to get some building done after Christmas.

The "Elevator / Aileron Torque Tube" is mounted on two bearings as pictured.

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The polishing took longer than anything else. In total they probably took around a day to complete.
They haven't been tack welded yet, but will be as soon as the bolts arrive from the States.
 
The "Control Stick" .......

I used the tool that was made for the Elevator Idler to flatten the end. Truth be told, I made it twice because the flattened portion wasn't as neat as it could have been.
As an estimate, It probably took around a week to complete this assemble working a couple of hours each night.

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BRIGHT IDEA!
I thought I would bomb the square tubing for the "Wing Folding Brackets" on the CNC mill. (I love my HAAS!) What was supposed to take five minutes took around five hours..... and still didn't yield a usable part. I did manage to break around seven hundred bucks worth of tooling in the process. [It takes a real chop to melt cutters.... a feat i'm not proud of!]
The tubing was brought in from Wicks Aircraft as a special shipment. It took six weeks to arrive, and I bought just enough to finish the job. Rather than chance it, I opted to do the job by hand. This took FOREVER! and a bit, because there are two of these suckers.

It was actually a thoroughly enjoyable part to make ...... well the first one was anyway.

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Just started with the "Aileron / Elevator Torque Tube" ..... well no! ..... started it a week and a half ago!

Cut round tube / Notch ends 30 deg. (Easy Peezy - One and a half hours) My kids enjoyed the sparks from the disc sander - safety glasses are a must - both of my boys have a pair, and they range in age from two and a half to six) (-)
Cut Square tube (x2) / Mill one face off (x2) / Notch end / polish .... polish .... polish! [EISH!]

This is where I am at right now. Though still to be completed, it has been an easy and interesting component to fabricate.

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One of the books I read said something about balancing family time and build time. I think I have it sorted out now.
My wife tells me this week that one of our kids took up Judo a couple of months ago. Maybe I'll go watch him sometime .... when I can remember his name. :?

Some of the smaller mechanical items were welded up by an SAA welder recently.
As expected, the mirror finish was tarnished by the heat. But the reason I polished the parts in the first place was to remove the mill scale from the material, and eliminate all scratches stress risers. Being my first build, i'm not sure how fanatical to be, but enjoy the process anyway. [Pride is a sin right?]

Please guys, constructive criticism is welcome, it's the only way to learn.

The Aileron torque mechanism is first up. This is what it came out like;







I read that shot blasting with glass bead was the way to go in terms of paint preparation, so I bought a small setup and played .....









After a coat of Zinc Chromate, it came out looking like this:



 
I wanted to start with the fuselage first, so I could sit in it and make aeroplane noises, but decided to practice some welding skills on some of the smaller, cheaper parts first.
Well! [rub those hands together] .... the time has come ..... time to start with the first of the two side trusses. Screwing down the wooden guide blocks was another one of those ..... "Ahhh .... two evenings should do it" kind of jobs that has now taken TWO WEEKS! [and i'm not finished yet!]
I'm surprised that my lovely wife hasn't kicked up a fuss about the fine wood dust that has been evenly distributed throughout our house courtesy of the disk sander. Actually ... I don't think she has noticed .... YET!
It may also be a good time to drop off one of those man gifts with our neighbor to say sorry about the late at night noise. You know ..... one of those basket things with the nuts and dried fruits. [Yes .... I know! .... they suck, but it's the thought that counts right?]
Living in a rabbit warren does have it's advantages I hear.





All marked and ready to drill.

 
I have never seen anyone polish the 4130 before welding. It looks good, but is probably not necessary, especially since you are now blasting the parts anyway....But, the parts look great.!! So if the extra work does not discourage you, press on.....I need to make a new set of the aileron torque assemblies, as the ones On my Restoration Sonerai 1 are froze together due to them being burned and then left to rust...
The fuselage frame is the easy part, as compared to all the small control system parts . Your project looks like it is coming along well, think about building one small part at a time, and not the big picture, and it won't be overwhelming....ED
 
Hi Ed,

due to them being burned and then left to rust

From welding or post crash fire?

Thanks for you comments. The polishing was part of the learning curve. I'll continue doing it in the welded areas, but as you say, the blasting cleans the part up much more quickly.

Is there a preferred method of notching all that tube?
 
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