Sonex Video Tour

[@jwald6795]

Thank you sir, that was very interesting. You're what experimental is all about. Making it yours.

[@wxgreg]

The absolute best description of a Sonex build I’ve seen. That you very much from a future Sonex builder!!!

[@dc8man2]

Thank you for taking the time to create this awesome informative video. As a new kit builder this information offers so much food for thought. If you ever make a video on the performance and flying of the plane I would love to watch that too. Happy landings

[@mikesmith208]

I have a whole lot of Sonex videos up if you do a search for my name and Sonex.

[@richardyoung7014]

Simply brilliant Mike! The way you mounted your tail tips and fitted your cup holders made me wish I'd seen this a couple of years ago! All your comments regarding cold, rain and snow don't exist where I am in Australia. I made my cowling exit larger right from the start as I was concerned about overheating, nobody ever seems to complain that their temps are cold especially cht's. Thanks for putting the effort into such an informative and professional looking AND sounding video.

[@mikesmith208]

Yeah, all you have to worry about is fire and smoke! :-( I hope you're alright down there! As for the things I customized, some were my own, but many came from others before me, so my thanks to all those who have created blogs and web sites so we can learn!

[@themegaforce810]

Seems like a maneuverable craft. Seen one on floats, actually looked pretty good like that as well. Nice video, I want one now..

[@LeftSeatAdventures]

Hey Mike, thanks for putting this video together. I honestly watched it the morning before I looked at my Sonex, and at least twice since. Cheers!

[@chuckturbo9307]

I built jet engines for 16 years and work many aircraft while in the Air Force. I loved watching your video and learned tons.

[@mikesmith208]

Glad to hear it. That was always my hope for the video.

[@stephendonahue9764]

Great tour Mike Thankyou for posting

[@rickfoxworthy6980]

Thank you, Mike. Some absolutely great innovations. I'm at the inspection stage of my Sonex but I can see myself incorporating several of your ideas in the years to come. I'll have to retrofit some of them, but definitely worth the effort.

[@txdave2]

Well done, Michael. Took me back to the days when I scratch built my Sonex #1095. Many of your mods were "common sense" and are similar to ones I incorporated in my build. I sold my Sonex a few years ago and surely do miss it.

[@xOutlaw6x]

Thanks for putting that together. Really helpful for us less experienced.

[@hutendrasinha127]

This video is very halpfuly get knowledge thenks

[@gthree0239]

Looks like you really paid attention to detail and put a lot of thought in to improving upon the original design. Isn’t that what whole building is all about!?! I love that the magnetos are Briggs & Stratton magnetos from the Oregon outdoor power equipment.

[@thebajancambrian2141]

incredible build, very inspiring, this is my goal one day!

[@daryleman5325]

Your improvements are stunning. Unbelievable

[@HenryACasas]

Thank you Mike, a lot of good advice that I won’t have to search for now.

[@russellsappliance2550]

GREAT video, your work and effort is greatly appreciated. Excellent job!!!

[@rustusandroid]

Paint it with real basecoat, 2k urethane clear coat and not the rustoleum rattle cans, then you will have no problems with the cracking. Enjoyed the video! gave me a lot of insights on the build I am starting :)

[@glitch9211]

What a great video and thanks for sharing in such detail. Lots of fantastic ideas. Just a helpful hint: if you ever need to remove that VHB tape, you can use a piece of dental floss and run it between the two pieces. It will act as a sort of wire cutter and separate the two halves. Then you just need to clean the adhesive from the surfaces and you're good to go.

[@Lester-te3vb]

Enjoyed the video very much .

[@aerostaraircraftsanctuary604]

Good video! Hooked up my brake lines this morning. Need to get some of the special fluid now.

[@HenryACasas]

Hello Michael , how are you doing?, finally I finished the cement floor and now I am starting again the Sonex, it would be good to see you and see how my Sonex turns out..Henry and Ingrid

[@mikesmith208]

Hi, Henry. You have my email, so fee free to reach out sometime.

[@dallasboricua21c]

Very informative and got some pretty good ideas for my KR2S with a Revmaster engine... Thank you for the info

[@laescuelasabatica]

Thank you! My dream is to build my Sonex B and people like you make the possibility real.

[@mikesmith208]

Well, that's the purpose and the hope of this video. Glad you like it. The best thing I can suggest is, JUST DO IT! :-)

[@Flightstar]

Great video. Lots of info for any aircraft project.

[@marklandry2509]

Nothing like a prop strike to get us in the mood for a new and different prop 🙂

[@mikesmith208]

I hated my Sensenich prop, so it was a great excuse to move up to the Prince prop!

[@phaedrusbjb]

nice job polishing, and nicely thought out details.

[@briancharlton8150]

Very good video and nice build. I'm interested in the rudder control rod, Can you give me info on what material it is. Did you form it on a lathe?

[@whitetrashgarage8110]

Thanks for putting this together. Deffinitely a few things to keep in mind if I decide on a Sonex. Waiting for the SPA Cougar to be released before I decide. A 2k polyurethane paint would likely hold up great, even if it is just cheaper "industrial" single stage.

[@lorneh6232]

Great video, where do you live? Youd be handy for a pre purchase inspection on a used one I reckon.

[@mikesmith208]

I'm in Massachusetts.

[@RaphaHey]

Excellent. Thanks!

[@marcusrussell8660]

Thanks, great ideas

[@russellesimonetta3835]

I,m very interested in the waiex B. Bigger cockpit and panel and a UL engine! Also saw a very interesting tank set up that used heavy wall 4" aluminum tubing in the wing ribs for another 12 gallons or so.

[@sachinpadad3135]

Good knowledge for all

[@Mike-tt8wi]

What program did you use to diagram your electrical system layout?

[@brd400]

I hope there's enough room to wear a parachute in there when you're going upside down etc in case you got to get out

[@Flightstar]

Parachutes are pointless in low energy maneuvers such as barrel rolls, spins and loops, the loading is well with in the sop flight load limits . Now, get into snaps, Lomcevak's and such, then that's a different story.

[@Archer4CA]

Mike: You outdid yourself. While I did not watch it end to end, no doubt it will really help Sonex buyers. The only thing I would have done differently is splice in some great video clips of you flying (and maybe ask AK for some clips) as segment breaks and as motivation through the hard work.

[@mikesmith208]

Hey, Carl! You're right on top of viewership, aren't you! I put the flight teases only at the beginning because it was already an extraordinarily long video! The yarn testing I did for the wing root fairings are the only other videos I interspersed.

[@TurboDirectSA]

Great video thanks for sharing

[@jamesstephens9818]

Just stumbled on this and GREAT video thanks. Question about your rocker breaker switches. What brand are those ? I can't seem to find those.

[@mikesmith208]

Mouser Electronics, www.mouser.com, W51-A121B1-10 (10 amp), -5 (5 amp), etc.

[@jamesstephens9818]

@@mikesmith208 Thank you. Haven't taken time to view your entire video but some great points. Will update my panel layout immediately. I am trying to get back to building this winter and really appreciate you taking the time to do the video.

[@mikesmith208]

@@jamesstephens9818 No one way is the right way, so weigh your options before you do anything. I like the switch/breaker concept, and the fact that it's all in front of me, and easily changed if I change something on my panel that requires a different amperage. Others like the expensive certificated breakers. And other prefer fuses for various reasons. Best of luck!

[@laheimjr9155]

Would you please add to your pref Pin over bolt? And fuel shutoff with the Aero carb , over mixture cutoff only?

[@mikesmith208]

Pin has it's own safety wire built in. Bolts need grinding, due to the threads, to get them smooth. Sonex uses the pins, which is where the idea came from. There is not much load on the pins, so they are plenty strong enough. Every AeroInjector setup MUST have both a mixture control AND a fuel shut off. Otherwise the fuel will invariably leak past the needle. Also, the fuel shutoff is on the pilot-side of the firewall. If there is an engine compartment fire you want to keep the fuel from being on the engine side. What happens if a fuel line gets breached between the firewall and the AeroInjector? Without a shutoff you burn all the way to the ground.

[@danielbasovitch5087]

Nice setup, but why did you put the Mag switches apart from each other instead of next to each other?

[@mikesmith208]

The center of my panel is removable for access. There was not enough room on the left side of the removable section to fit all the switches over there, so one of them had to move a bit to the right, into the removable panel. The Sonex has limited panel space, so you have to make decisions.

[@denisronchini2258]

Question about foot rest. Will the bottom buckle if you "stand" on as you get in, or is there a cross bar that the pilot and passenger can step on for support? Thanks for your time.

[@mikesmith208]

Not sure where you mean. You get in primarily by standing on the seat and then sliding in around the control stick. For the pilot you can maneuver to avoid stepping on the seat, but not for the passenger. The seat pan is like a sling, and is quite capable of supporting someone walking over it, and the seat cushion helps spread the load. If you were referring to the bottom skin of the airplane, there's not a way you can physically stand on it; it's too far under the instrument panel to reach it in a standing position. And there is a cross member that goes from the spar tunnel to the firewall. That's where I have my fire extinguisher mounted.

[@denisronchini2258]

Michael Smith I mean where you rest your foot while sitting. Can you put pressure on the floor or do you have to carefully step on floor crossbars to avoid a possible “buckle” of the floor pan?

[@mikesmith208]

@@denisronchini2258 Floor is solid as a rock. Kick the heck out of it if you want. :-)

[@denisronchini2258]

Michael Smith Thats awesome! I keep looking for reason “not” to do build it, but it’s getting harder not to buy a kit! Lol. Thank you for the update.

[@mikesmith208]

@@denisronchini2258 A Sonex is a "simple" aircraft. It's not an RV and it's not a IFR Cessna or Piper. If it meets your mission it's a great little airplane. I built the entire thing, all in, for $28,000. After 6.5 years I still love it. Would like some more HP, but I knew what I was getting with the 80 HP VW ($7,000 vs $24,000 for an engine!). If you can swing the cost of a larger engine you won't be unhappy. It just wasn't in my budget.

[@chaguine4384andrei]

thank you

[@Jason-hb8jy]

Nice craftsmanship

[@MatHolliday]

What material are you using to cover your glare shield? It looks good.

[@mikesmith208]

It was a faux leather from JoAnn Fabrics. I put it on with high strength upholstery adhesive. Tricky to put on (requires adhesive on both surfaces, gets tacky, then place). It's never moved, bubbled or buckled. I was looking for something easy to clean that would not hold dirt and dust, so all fabrics were out of the question. Black is preferred, as anything light colored really reflects off the windscreen!

[@johnsherman7289]

A bird with a V-tail is the grackle, a crow common in puerto Rico.

[@circusfactory]

respect !

[@jadams3427]

Interesting video. Thanks.

[@Rockingruvin]

outstanding!!!

[@edmor1086]

What do you get for climb and cruise speed with that prop?

[@mikesmith208]

Like everything in flying, it depends. Single pilot in cold winter conditions, I can get 900 fpm climb on take-off. Summer, hot, at gross weight, as little at 250 fpm. I usually cruise around 100 kts and 4.5 gph. Wide open throttle I can get 124 kts true, at 3,260 rmp. I tested the Prince Prop against my original Sensenich and the Prince Prop beat the Sensenich in ever category.

[@steveh9714]

Wow, thanks for the great and informative tour! And congratulations on Avery nice plane. Do you think you are getting some bypass and losing some cooling pressure with the oil cooler seals curling back instead of in towards the pressure? Thx again, -Steve

[@mikesmith208]

No. The seals are very tight against the cowl. The cowl actually bulges up slightly because of it. My trip to/from Oshkosh this year, in 95+ degree heat, had my oil temps at 165 F.

[@steveh9714]

@@mikesmith208 awesome! Thx again for sharing.

[@edmor1086]

That canopy pin looks like it would keep somebody from getting you out of the plane if you crashed it and were unconscious

[@mikesmith208]

It's a simple push button. I brief ALL passengers how to use it. The canopy is fragile and can be easily broken with your foot or a blunt object. No trouble getting through it from the outside.

[@bhaskarparam9711]

Wow wow wow

[@kg4lzc]

I'm not sure you can defend the statement that fire takes less oxygen than a human does to breathe.

[@mikesmith208]

The point is that Halon in an enclosed space will not kill you. See various sources such as: www.linkedin.com/pulse/combating-myths-fixed-halon-1301-systems-kyle-brown/

[@garthrichert5256]

The tail wheel is a foul design.

[@applekidn1]

Is the non painted parts covered in lacquer? I mean the polished surface

[@mikesmith208]

No. 6061-T6 aluminum is about the most anti-corrosive aluminum alloy there is. It's just polished. I re-polish every 2-3 years, and it had been on a tie-down for 6 years (in a hangar now). Lacquer would not work, and would haze, crack and chip. It would look awful. Check out any polished aircraft and you'll find the same thing as mine.

[@applekidn1]

@@mikesmith208 sweet! Was just curious, can see the care you put into it with that shine you got going on 🫡