We attached the horizonal stabilizer tips and finished the empennage! I have paid the shipping for the airframe and we should see the rest of the shipment appear in the next few weeks. We are having the airframe kit shipped directly to the airport. The empennage took 63 days from delivery to completion.

I thought I had trimmed away too much fiberglass from my horizonal stabilizer tips but I was able to do a little creative cutting and now have a pretty good fit. I just need to drill holes to final size and attach them. I’m still waiting for a new rib that I damaged. After that, the Empennage will be completed!

I also epoxied on the tail light faring. Nice! Thank you Sonex Builder SP1 for the help.

Finally, a tip. As you build and get more experience, you will be able to identify sheet metal thickness on the fly. Until then, keeping a few samples around that are marked is very helpful.

As of today, the vertical stabilizer, rudder and elevator are complete. Pulls rivets and MUCH easier, and the parts looks beautiful! The horizonal stabilizer still needs a little work.

Sometimes things go wrong during a build. I trimmed off too much fiberglass AND cut through the end rib. *sigh*

No problem. Ordered new parts and will have the emp completed before the end of the year.

I also got a ship date from the company! Looks like the rest of the airframe will ship on or around January 20th. Tom and I are excited!

We finished installing the vertical stabilizer tip today. JP1 at Sonexbuilders.NET made a tail light form for me, and it just needs sanding, priming and gluing. We installed a cable race so we will either put on a tail light / strobe or a uAvionix tailbeacon.

The horizonal stabilizer is dressed for travel.

I made a goof with the elevator and needed to order new parts that will be required before I can align the elevator and horizonal stabilizer. After that, just the fibreglass tips I guess. Vertical stabilizer and rudder are completed and there are no more parts in the boxes!

Note the supports made from 1X4 pine board. These are tall enough to clear clecos during the build.

Built forward horizonal stabilizer spar today, and working on the elevators.

My airplane build is a collection of fear. What is the next fear? Then the next, etc. What happens if? what if I do the next thing out of order? What if? What if?

I do get over this, and when the next step is completed, all is good. Until the next fear.

My next fear? How do I build the elevator so it is perfectly straight? How do I make sure it is straight and properly connected to the horizonal stabilizer?

Many places to look from YouTube (lots of help there) as well as sonexbuilders.net.

The rear spar for the vertical stabilizer is completed.  I do want to add an electrical conduit for a tail light so I’ll be adding that to the tool holes already drilled.

This electrical conduit is light, durable and available in both split and solid design. Get it from Amazon or even Harbor Freight (I also bought a 25 foot length from Van’s Aircraft)

Skin is next!

We have finished the rudder and the vertical stabilizer forward spar. Cool right?

Building the Sonex is a much different experience than the Van’s RV. While the Van’s Aircraft have an instruction book and plans, the Sonex Kit just has plans. I watch the videos on You Tube (and purchased the same videos to show support). Even though I think the plans are useful and well setup, it would be nice to have a list of instructions to help. The You Tube videos are welcome for the tail, but I’m not sure what I will do when building the rest of the plane. Hopefully, I’ll get the swing of the plans before the rest of the kit shows up.

I did buy an electric Milwaukee pull rivet gun that I find excellent! Bought the small battery for low weight but got two of them. Not sure yet how long they last.

I also built a pair of work stands out of 1X4 pine. Sanded them smooth to prevent damage to aluminum

Finally, a good rivet fence will help getting all the holes in the right place.