I posted this on another forum a few days ago, but considering that this forum is dedicated to homebuilding and seems reasonably active I thought you guys might like the info as well. I am also adding pictures that I haven't posted before:
I went to the Sonex builder's workshop in Oshkosh this past weekend and had a blast. The weather was great Saturday and they did flyby demonstrations of several Sonex aircraft before the start of the workshop and during lunch. There was also another flyby demo on Sunday morning, but I missed it.
The workshop was a combination of several things. We covered how to read the plans, and organizing our build as well as a history of the Sonex (and all other Monnett aircraft) as well as a history of the aerovee engine. John, Betty, and Jeremy Monnett as well as Kerry Fores and the rest of the Sonex crew were very welcoming and answered all of my questions. There was a lot of hands on metal work in the class. We did everything from cutting aluminum angle and forming wing ribs from sheet metal to riveting our pieces into a small spar subsection. One of the interesting aspects of it is that the workshop not only covers assembly of the kit, but it also covers the basic skills needed for scratch building the aluminum components of the airframe.
To give you an idea of my background I have NO metal working experience. In fact, IIRC the Saturday in the workshop was the first time that I had ever used a drill for anything, let alone a band saw for cutting angle or a drill press for making lightning holes. I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to use a band saw without slicing my fingers off. It was a lot of information to get thrown at me. The conclusion I came to was that after this workshop I am very comfortable cutting aluminum angle and turning that into parts. I need a little more practice cutting sheet metal and I was so busy focusing on the basics that I didn't do any riveting.
That is quite alright with me, though. The aluminum angle will take me 200 hours to complete alone. I estimate that when I start building in November that it wont be until mid January or February before I finish the angle stock and move on to cutting ribs and other parts out of sheet metal. I wouldn't be doing any riveting until April 2009 at the earliest (and that is best case scenario). Between now and then (most likely January) I am going to attend the EAA Sportair metalworking workshop. I also will repeat the Sonex builder's workshop, since they are only a 3 hour drive away and I can go again for free.
My favorite part of the workshop was when they had an insurance agent come in and give use info about getting the Sonex insured. He gave some great strategies for lower time pilots to get insured in experimentals. I also really liked getting a closer look at the Aerovee engine and having a chance to see it perform in a Sonex. The opportunity to build it myself seems like great fun. If I have the money come purchase time I will buy the Jabiru 3300 for max performance, but I know that I can afford the Aerovee with no strain on my budget and will be very happy with the results.
The last point I would like to make is that if you are building your first plane, it is VERY beneficial to attend one of these builder's workshops if they are available for your model of aircraft. I know Zenith, Van's, and IIRC Lancair have them, probably others. I am sure there are points about the workshop that I left out. If you have any questions, let me know and I will try to answer them as best I can.
Here are some of the pics I took:
I went to the Sonex builder's workshop in Oshkosh this past weekend and had a blast. The weather was great Saturday and they did flyby demonstrations of several Sonex aircraft before the start of the workshop and during lunch. There was also another flyby demo on Sunday morning, but I missed it.
The workshop was a combination of several things. We covered how to read the plans, and organizing our build as well as a history of the Sonex (and all other Monnett aircraft) as well as a history of the aerovee engine. John, Betty, and Jeremy Monnett as well as Kerry Fores and the rest of the Sonex crew were very welcoming and answered all of my questions. There was a lot of hands on metal work in the class. We did everything from cutting aluminum angle and forming wing ribs from sheet metal to riveting our pieces into a small spar subsection. One of the interesting aspects of it is that the workshop not only covers assembly of the kit, but it also covers the basic skills needed for scratch building the aluminum components of the airframe.
To give you an idea of my background I have NO metal working experience. In fact, IIRC the Saturday in the workshop was the first time that I had ever used a drill for anything, let alone a band saw for cutting angle or a drill press for making lightning holes. I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to use a band saw without slicing my fingers off. It was a lot of information to get thrown at me. The conclusion I came to was that after this workshop I am very comfortable cutting aluminum angle and turning that into parts. I need a little more practice cutting sheet metal and I was so busy focusing on the basics that I didn't do any riveting.
That is quite alright with me, though. The aluminum angle will take me 200 hours to complete alone. I estimate that when I start building in November that it wont be until mid January or February before I finish the angle stock and move on to cutting ribs and other parts out of sheet metal. I wouldn't be doing any riveting until April 2009 at the earliest (and that is best case scenario). Between now and then (most likely January) I am going to attend the EAA Sportair metalworking workshop. I also will repeat the Sonex builder's workshop, since they are only a 3 hour drive away and I can go again for free.
My favorite part of the workshop was when they had an insurance agent come in and give use info about getting the Sonex insured. He gave some great strategies for lower time pilots to get insured in experimentals. I also really liked getting a closer look at the Aerovee engine and having a chance to see it perform in a Sonex. The opportunity to build it myself seems like great fun. If I have the money come purchase time I will buy the Jabiru 3300 for max performance, but I know that I can afford the Aerovee with no strain on my budget and will be very happy with the results.
The last point I would like to make is that if you are building your first plane, it is VERY beneficial to attend one of these builder's workshops if they are available for your model of aircraft. I know Zenith, Van's, and IIRC Lancair have them, probably others. I am sure there are points about the workshop that I left out. If you have any questions, let me know and I will try to answer them as best I can.
Here are some of the pics I took:
