I have written in the past about a friend of mine who is building a Sonex. Well, yesterday I had the privelege to watch as he made the maiden flight.
Understand that although this is a smaller and simpler plane than my RV-9A, he built this plane completely from raw aluminum sheet. No precut parts, no CNC-predrilling, nothing. Every part was fabricated. Nowdays you can buy a Sonex kit which is prepunched, but it wasn't available when Todd started. I always feel like I'm cheating compared to what he went through. |
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Anyways, this plane is really neat. I don't have the specifics on the performance, but it is supposed to cruise at 120mph.
He did the first flight without any problems. It was really a pretty uneventful flight except for those of us down on the ground trying to take video and pictures. He said the plane flew straight and level.
I still can't get over how cool it is that he has flown this thing. I have helped from time to time when he was attaching the wings or when he moved it to the hangar, so I saw the progress as he got closer to completion, but it is still an amazing thing whenever someone flies a plane he built in his garage for the first time. |
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Check out the cockpit. The instrument panel is small and simple, with just the necessary components. He uses a handheld radio which is wired into the intercom. He has a portable GPS, a built-in mode-c transponder, magnetic compass, altimeter, and airspeed indicator. The fuel gauge is a clear tube mounted to the instrument panel. The most advanced item is a EIS4000 engine monitor, which provides RPM, oil pressure, cylinder temps, etc.
I'll post some more information once he does more of his flight testing .
Congratulations, Todd, it's a cool plane! |
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