Making airplane parts

[vavet]

I bought plans to a Sonex airplane in 1999. I worked on it earnestly for a few years, then life happened, I moved several times, got married, deployed with the Army, moved some more, didn’t have a decent place to work, grad school, had a baby, etc.

When we decided to buy a new place after baby in 2013, a 2 car garage for parking plus workshop space (or room to build a workshop) was a non-negotiable requirement. We ended up building in 2015 and added a detached garage in 2017 for my workshop. I started to get it set up to work and realized I needed to insulate and drywall it to really make it functional. 2019 was basically a loss because of a back injury, surgery, and recovery. I finally hired out the drywall finishing.
I’ve been doing pretty well since February of this year after some acupuncture to calm down the sciatic nerve (relic of the back injury) and I’ve been getting into the garage more making little projects, setting up the shop, etc. There is always something else to do, something else to de clutter or organize.
I made a decision earlier this week that enough is enough. I want to make airplane parts and if I wait for the shop to be perfectly set up for that, then I’m never going to get there. I’m on furlough from my job this week so I have some time. I started getting out the plans, the parts, the raw materials, the specialty tools and I started making airplane parts again. Man it feels great! I love working with aluminum.

 

[Jackfre]

Back in the 90's when learning to fly I joined the EAA and was just so hot to trot on building an airplane. A friend took me to visit an Oshkosh winner for a Lancair build. He had two he was building for people at that time. He said, "if you think you can build this nights and weekends while running your business and having a family, this thing will break your heart." I concluded he was right, but still think of building a Vans RV12. Good for you that you have dragged that thing all over the place with you and kept it together. I hope your health improves as time goes by.
For those interested in building planes look at vansaricraft.com. Fabulous!

 

[matt_i]

What sort of parts are you into? Sheetmetal, airframe, machining?

I've never looked closely at an airplane build but I'd like to learn more about what's all involved

From the outside it would appear to be a very large stack of prints/details that need to be fabricated into finished parts.....

 

[APEowner]

Good for you! When I lived in NY I had a nice, one-thousand square foot, heated and air conditioned shop and we moved to New Mexico I bought a house with plans to expand the undersized 3 car shop into my dream shop. Then I built a race car, then another and now 7 years later race car #4 is done and I might finally start work on the shop. Would it have been nicer to have the shop all setup before I started the car projects? Sure it would have but on the other hand I still enjoyed the builds and I've got some complete race cars to play with.

 

[Mike Folks]

Weldon and Cogsdill make great deburring tools,in a drill chuck.easy work. www.browntool is another source for aircraft tools.

 

[vavet]

What sort of parts are you into? Sheetmetal, airframe, machining?

I've never looked closely at an airplane build but I'd like to learn more about what's all involved

From the outside it would appear to be a very large stack of prints/details that need to be fabricated into finished parts.....

The Sonex is constructed mostly of 6061 T6 aluminum. It uses 0.025” and 0.032” for a lot of it, but a lot of pieces are fabricated from 1/8 and 3/16 angle. There are some smaller pieces made from 0.063”, 0.090”, and 0.125” thick aluminum, there are a few steel pieces, like the engine mount. The gear legs are made from titanium.
It still amazes me how taking a flat piece of 0.025 and putting a bend in it causes it to be so much more rigid.

Ive been working the last few days mostly with the angle pieces that have to be cut, drilled, filed, etc into the final forms. I’ll get some pictures later.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

I build a few a year in my spare time.

They're usually rubber powered, though.

Tommy

 

[LX-Markham]

This thread has no pics?

 

[ghnl]

I've spent lots of time watching this series:

 

[ScottsGT]

I build a few a year in my spare time.

They're usually rubber powered, though.

Tommy

Mine are styrene.

But to stay on topic, nothing like finally settling into what you want to do, not have to do.

 

[Kevin54]

For the ones that don't know, making parts is an art. Some think that a sheet of aluminum is just a sheet of aluminum. But each allow has it's own properties. And the main thing to learn is grain direction. Bend a certain alloy with the grain and at times it could be catastrophic in a build. Bend it cross grain and you have rigidity. But if the material is too hard it can cause problems. If it is too soft, it can cause problems. Metals are a very interesting subject.

 

[vavet]

Here are pics of a couple pieces I’ve made the last few days.

 

[ixlr8]

How is the parts building business doing?

 

[N969DP]

Hope your build is still coming along. I bought my zenith kit in 2020, made some decent progress, is on hold now while we build a new house, which has a large garage purposely for building airplanes. Hope to have it flying next year.

 

[ZRX61]

Mine are styrene.

But to stay on topic, nothing like finally settling into what you want to do, not have to do.

I have more trouble putting those together than I do real ones.

 

[dcg9381]

Having been around a lot of airplane builds, I've seen few make it into flyable status. Takes amazing patience and level of attention to detail. But what you can get out of a homebuilt definitely blows away what's available in certified general aviation. Cool stuff, guys.

 

[niget2002]

I keep having the same issue.

I want to build a strip-built canoe. I keep putting it off due to other significantly smaller projects. I keep telling myself, "after this next small project". Then I finish that one and immediately put another small project in the way.

One day I'll build up the guts to start the real project and reason I wanted the shop in the first place... One day...

 

[oltruckag]

I started a Sonex kit build back in 2006 (pre-wife, house & kids) and made excellent progress for a few years. I've actually got the rear of the fuselage built, a good number of parts fabricated and started on the wings before life got in the way (wife, house, kids, started a business, started another business, etc)... I'm actually (disappointingly) to the point where its time to get rid of the partially completed kit as I'm never going to finish it.

I actually flew up to the Sonex fly-in in Crossville, TN a few years into the build and flew a couple of the planes there. I bought the kit after sitting in one under construction, but without the canopy. I'm 6'1, 230, so it turns out it's a pretty snug fit. While I technically fit, its more putting the plane 'on' than getting in it. That was a huge motivation killer.

Good luck to you if you are doing it plans built - its a cool little plane with lots of potential. I need to sell the kit I have to someone who'll finish it, I hate that its taking up valuable space and I'll never finish it. The hoarder side of me wants to keep it "just in case" but I know deep down it will just end up something my kids have to dispose of if I don't get rid of it soon.

Tyson