Dave's Sonex Builders Log

I worked a bit on the controls today. First I moved one washer on each end of the link between the control triangle and the intermediate connection from the outside to the inside. This reduces the possibility of the link rubbing at each end and enters it a bit better in the hole under the rear of the seat.

I also started the installation of one of the rudder cable by installing it through the fairleads on the left side of the fuselage both front and rear.

Today I have started to work on finishing the windshield installation. Before starting I marked the bow strap where I wanted to extend it to better fit with the canopy. I took a number of photos to explore this area. After opening the canopy I put a ratchet strap on the windshield and started by removing the fasteners between the windshield and windshield bow. Next I removed the clecos.

With all the fasteners and clecos removed I was able to carefully remove the windshield and windshield bow strap. Once the windshield was removed I removed the protective covering from the forward half of the glare shield and then cleaned up the aluminum with some acetone to remove the glue and some scotchbrite for a few minor scratches.

I discovered a couple of rivets that I had left out. One on each side where the two halves of my custom glare shield join. At first I thought I would see if I could get some stainless steel washers for the underside of these rivets. I could not find any at my local Home Depot that were the correct size so I decided to make some backing plates out of aluminum. These were made from some 1/16″ 6061-T6 material that I had and were cut to 3/4″ x 3/4″ square with a #30 hole in the center. I then used a couple of CCP-44 rivets to finish fastening the glareshield in place.

I also discovered that the stainless steel fasteners I had ordered for the glare shield were too short. I’ll need to order some new fasteners.

I need to make some changes/repairs in the fuselage. I discovered that I must have missed note in View H-H on sheet F01. Today I’m going to drill out the rivets and install them from the opposite side so that the control triangle can be installed.

Today I worked on some tooling to help with the final triming of the canopy. I found that the toughest part of fitting the canopy was pulling  it into position along the fuselage sides. So, I made up some pieces of MDF that I could clamp to the sides of the fuselage using ratchet straps. The MDF ends up flush with the upper longerons and provides a surface that I can clamp to. I plan to clamp some AL angles to the MDF to hold the canopy in place for the final fitting before I start drilling holes. I’m also hoping that I can drill the canopy while it is clamped in place. I know a lot of builders use a ratchet strap to pull the canopy down into place but I find this distorts the canopy so I really want to let it side in place and just pull in the portion that aligns with the upper longerons.