I discovered while working on the ribs, that there is a tool I thought would be handy that turns out to be vital. The Right-Angle Drill.
The pneumatic right-angle drill I bought at a garage sale turns out to be vital when drilling the ribs. Because the head of the drill motor is so small, you can drill the holes without bending or distorting the rib.
WANT
Yes, this is a fun tool, and probably not vital to the build and does require a compressor and must be handled carefully BUT the pneumatic “Cleco Gun” is a great addition to my shop.
What to do while waiting for your kit to be delivered? Why, build of course!
We do not have water in our hanger, but washing off parts is in some demand. While waiting for the rest of my airframe kit to be delivered I built a sink!
RV sink and faucet, 12 volt pump and a 12 volt battery and put the whole thing on wheels using scrap wood from around the hanger!
Two 5 gallon jugs (one for fresh water and one for gray water) round out the build.
We have an easy drain for the gray water (soap and water only, no chemicals) at the airplane wash rack and a close by spigot for filling the fresh water make this a useful project for the hanger.
Perfect
Make the counter top useful but not too big for the hanger.
Even though most modern airplane kits are pre-punched, pre-drilled, pre-bent, pre-welded and pre-machined there is still a signifiacnt amount of measureing to do. Do you need high presicion tools like micrometers? Not really, but a collection of good quality measuring tools will be required.
Note: I’m building in the backwards country of the United States and my kit came from the US. My measurements are in inches and feet so my tools are measured in these increments. If you are in a more advanced county, with your kit from there, your tools will probably be in metric.
Squares: You will need two: a large square (18 inches or more) and a small adjustable square (12 inches or less)
Quality tape measure: I suggest a small measure (12 feet or less) and a long one (25 foot)
Steel rules: I suggest three. I use a 48 inch with 1/8 increments. I have a 12 inch steel rule and finally a couple of 6 inch rules measuring increments of 16, 32 and 64th increments (you never really need 64th increments on a modern kits).
Caliper: I have a plastic 6 inch caliper and the plastic ones are fine for kit building. Don’t know how to read a caliper? Digital calipers are available at a relative low cost.
Protractor: A good quality steel adjustable protractor is cool, but a simple plastic one will do.
Bolt Gauge: A template to measure both bolt size and length is important. Plastic ones for both metric and SAE are available for a very low cost. The one you see in the picture is from Van’s Aircraft and came with my RV-9A kit. Many are available for under $15 USD.
Drill Gauges: If you are careful with storage and can read very tiny lettering on drill bits, you probably do not need a drill gauge. If you do need a drill gauge be sure to get two; one that reads fractional bit sizes and one that reads numbered bits.
Finally, marking measurements on aluminum can be done with blue or red sharpies. Blue or red ink will make sure you can clearly read the mark, and sharpie ink is easily removed from aluminum with acetone.
Having good access to plans as you are building is very important. So important to me, I built a custom plans table. It has wheels, and holds the plans for fast and easy access.
For my RV-9A build, the Van’s plans came in individual sheets, and could be loaded into clear protective sleeves and easy to cycle as needed.
The Sonex plans seem to come in a pad where the sheets are held together so you can flip through them. For the Sonex, I customized the plans table to allow me to clamp the plans tablet edge to the table and flip through them easily. The table is still on wheels and I added a shelf, maybe to hold rivets.
Even when building an all metal airplane, it is a good idea to have wood working tools and some scrap lumber around.
The biggest difference between building an RV-9 and a Sonex are the blind rivets. Almost non-existent with the RV-9A, the blind rivet is the most common rivet type with the Sonex.
The blind rivet is also called the pull rivet or a pop-rivet (which is a registered trademark)
The original design was for riveting where the rivet was unavailable for bucking or squeezing. For the Sonex, it reduces build time significantly. We just completed skinning the horizonal stabilizer in just an hour. For my last project, this would have taken a day or two.
That said, there are some new tools you will need to build the Sonex. You can use a hand squeezer, but unless you want forearms like Popeye, and add a year or two to the project, you will want a power tool. Now there are two flavors: pneumatic or electric. The pneumatic type is available from your favorite aircraft supply or from Harbor Freight Tools.
For the electric, I bought a Milwaukee with the small battery (for lighter weight) and I bought two batteries. They do sell blind rivet tool adapters for cordless drills. These looks a little iffy to me but I have no experience with them.
You will still need a hand rivet puller for tight spaces, and I scored a VERY thin model at a garage sale for $5. Look for one with a small profile.
You should also get a close quarter rivet pulling wedge (about $25) that allows pulling a straight rivet at a slight angle. I got mine from cleavelandtool.com
OK! Back to work. For the RV guys, they usually say “Keep pounding those rivets!” For the Sonex guys, “Keep Pulling those Rivets!”
Well, my old hanger partner has moved out, and my new hanger partner will be moving in, so this is a good opportunity to do some serious house cleaning!
We started by doing a quick evaluation of all the stuff we had that has been pieced together as we have been building. Work tables, donated stuff, old Cessna parts and duplicate tools and supplies.
We decided to build a few new wall racks, remove some old tables and decommission duplicate equipment. A stop at the local EAA hanger with an offer for some sturdy work tables had the guys stopping by and picking up a few donations.
Part 1: Tear down. And clean the floor!
Out with the old…
I’m finding TONS of stuff that I really want, and have not seen in awhile. This has been a good lesson about being a pack rat. Sometime you get so much stuff, you can not find it anymore.
Yikes! I have a butt-kicking vise in my shop that will grab a hunk of metal, and hold on like a Gila monster!
But sometimes, you want to hold something a bit easier, and not make marks in the item clamped in the vise. A simple solution is to cut a 3/4 by 3/4 angle into a 4 to 6″ length. Place that in the vise, and voila! An easy holder for small parts.
Aluminum inserts
But wait. These baby’s are always falling out and on to the floor every time I try to put something into them. So, HERE IS THE TRICK:
Buy some self-stick magnets from your local stationary store, and cut to size, and glue them on to the angle. They stay in place, and make it easy to move the insert around.
Aluminum vise jaw inserts with magnets.
Remember to put the magnets on top of the vise so you do not try to squeeze them.
Anytime you go off plans, it creates a bunch of work and can add significantly to the timeline. However, adding cool features is what an experimental is all about.
Now, I’m not an aeronautical engineer, so I NEVER just go off plans by myself. I have some pretty strict rules:
1. Does the mod affect safety of flight? I never go off plans on these mods. No mater who else did.
2. Would Cessna do this? I keep this thought in the back of my head as a guideline. Cessna Safe.
3. Is this a well documented mod? Are the parts involved aircraft parts? Like adding parking brakes. I’m in.
4. Is the mod a kit I can buy that many others have done? My Nav lights fall into this category. LED lights for wings and tail. Thinking about Electronic ignition.
5. Have many before me done this mod? Flap up travel limit switch falls here and in 4 above. I may buy the kit or do the Automotive relay thing.
6. Are the risks small? Fairings on the rudder cable go here. My Avionics tray fits here too.
7. Cost appropriate? Am I overbuilding for the plane I want?
8. Is this a Real mod or am I just fantasizing about it? Rotary Engine? Retractable landing gear? Three seats? Propane operated simulated machine guns???? Wow! Nah…
For now, I’m building a standard, 150HP Lycoming, Mags and a carburetor with a wood prop. BUT after I’m flying a bit???? We’ll see…
FINALLY!
The wings are now completed. We spent the week-end putting the wings up and away where they will not get damaged. We also opened the Fuse box! Found some interesting stuff. Like a manual elevator trim cable (we have electric trim). Also we found the manual aileron trim, and we want to go with electric with that as well. Oh well.
We also spent a day getting the shop ready. Cleaning, re-packaging hardware, and doing an inventory of the kit. We also put weights on the plans so they will lie flat, and we loaded the plans holders we have.
At each step, it is a good idea to re-set the shop and make sure everything is back where you can quickly get your hands on it. This is REALLY worth the time investment later.
