Rigging the Left Aileron (July 29th 2006)

Before I can continue riveting the left upper aft wingskin I have to confirm that aileron and flap travel is within design limits (working on this things when the wingskin is half-on or even through the inspection hole is a pain in the a..). The flap is uncritical in this respect, so I started first to test-fit the left aileron.

These are the parameters per the Sonex plans. Regard the large difference between aileron up and down travel! Probably this contributes to the good rolling charactristics of the Sonex (differentiated ailerons).

...this is the instruction on how to establish the neutral aileron position. In this position the aileron bellcrank lever should build a 25 degree angle measured against the wingrib...

...and this is the way I did it (wing is upside down and strapped to the ceiling)...

...on 25 degrees the threaded end of the pushrod almost fully screws into the rod-end-bearing - not bad because this means a nice safety margin...

...on aileron neutral position Smart level shows 14 degrees (wing is still upside down here). This is the reference value for the following up and down positions...

... when lifting the aileron maximal up this means downtravel in flight mode. So we have only 10 degrees here. Should be half an degree more. Searching the reason for this limitation was easy...

... and here it is - not a big problem actually. I made this angle a bit larger because I use larger bushings also. About 2 mm can be grinded off without sacrificing safety (p.s. never install cotter pins early - you bet they have to be removed again :-((

...aileron fully down (max up position in flight mode). It's -just- good, but better have a little tolerance here also...

...the counterweight does not yet touch the lower wingskin. The limiting factor here is the cutout on the rear spar. A round swiss file will cure this.

=====================================================================

Tiedown Bolts (July 27th 2006)

Made this streamlined tiedown bolts today. Five minutes on the grinding stone and then finishing at the Scoth-Brite wheel. Because the cad plating is gone the bolts got a touch-up of my 'indestructible' two-component epoxy primer.

=====================================================================

Update to my military precision quadrant (see further down). This is what Guillaume Vinck wrote (thanks guy):

hello

a complete circomference of a circle equals 6400 mils = 360 degrees
mils was chosen because it divides better by two (half a circle =
3200 mils, quarter circle = 1600 mils etc), so 3° must approximate
17,77 * 3 = 53,3 mils.

greetings
guy=

=====================================================================

Access Hole Lower Aftwing-Skin (July 17th 2006)

When I looked on the aileron bellcrank and on the access opening for servicing this item I doubt that an exchange of the bushings will could be accomplished through this hole. So I played with the idea making this opening larger/oval. However using a flycutter this two circels must not touch each other (if they will the flycutter may catch metal and blood may flow, -not good). This would create a rather large hole in the wingskin - and immediately another gremlin raises his head - structural weakness. After weighing pros and cons I decided to stay with the original plan. However - als always - I like to complicate things a bit. So I made the cover plate completely flush.

The sheet is rather large but cutting the hole was not this difficult. Luckily everything went well (-don't like to think about this would go wrong and I had to build another wingskin - almost an impossible task).

Plate fits nicely on the first try (very unusual in this airplane factory ;-)

Rear side, note the four nutplates. I'm running low on primer, so only mating surfaces are corrosion-protected

Next tasks: polishing the upper aft wingskin, solid-riveting the skin, installing aileron and actuation push-pulltubes. Lower aft skin will not be riveted yet, because the inspector likes to have an eye inside of the wing.

=====================================================================

Have resumed work on the Sonex after 14 Months idle time (July 12th 2006)

I allowed myself 6 weeks of vacation. Will use this time to bring forward the Sonex wings.The last three days I primed skins of the left wing. Because my one gallon drum of super-duper 2-component indestructible primer runs low I primed only the contact surfaces between ribs and wingskin and the overlap sections.

Must be careful not to contaminate the fruits when paint spraying. The skin is already drilled and dimpled, ready for re-installation

This I acquired from a surplus company. It is a military precision quadrant (MI NO 68978, made by Minneapolis Honeywell in 1943) for aiming cannon barrels. I'd like to use it for adjusting the three degrees wing incidence. The scale is a bit strange. The unit are 'MILS' and the scaling is from zero to 800 on on side and from 800 to 1600 on the other side with every 50 a nmbered subdivision. Is anyone out there who remembers from his military service how these units can be converted to degrees? Pls send me a note at: ga-at-loeff-dot-de

Last Weekend Me and my wife visited the French Experimental Aircraft Builders Fly-In. Here a short impression:

2006 RSA experimental aricraft builder's Fly-In, Vichy, France

Large flightline (as expected)- A dozen MCR-01s with their smiling faces, another lot of Europas. Of course lots of the French's favoured rag and wood constructions. Several flying fleas with fully enclosed cockpits(!). Nothing really new xcept maybe a pusher which looked like a light jet, engine centrally behind the cockpit and a long composite driveshaft to the rear prop. Surprisingly haven't a single Cri-Cri this time.

Found an interesting supplier for brakes and wheels. Very good quality, all parts CNC-cut, but pricey...

Saturday night, sunset has passed long ago, the last grilled meat has been consumed, red wine almost gone. The people in the control tower as well as the fire truck have left. Camping site becomes quiet, full-moon shines brightly. Then a O-540 starts up, a traffic circuit, followed by a low pass. Then the machine gains altitude, speeds along the runway doing three rolls followed by a hammerhead turn, another pass, a loop anoter one... It's a private airshow just for the pleasure of the guy on the controls and the campers below. This is the easy-going way of private aviation in the country of wine and cheese.