Double-click on photos to enlarge.
Builder Log for ...
Sonex 963
Building a Dream!
Page 41
Photo Courtesy of Sonex Aircraft, LLC
January 30 & 31, 2009 ... .After it cured overnight, I popped ther fiberglass loose from the form. Everything turned
out great on it except for the base where the fairing sets against the wingtip. That area was uneven due to the electrical tape that
I used to cover the form. So ... I made a new form and fiberglassed it without the tape.
After letting that cure overnight, I
removed the form and I FINALLY have a fairing that is going to work! I have some finish work to do on it, but all around it looks
pretty good. You will notice from the photo that the .025 aluminum plate that I set in the fiberglass slipped a little bit during
the wetting process. So the NAV light nutplates had to be angled so the rivets would catch the embedded plate.
February 2, 2009 ... I put a layer of Gelcoat on the fairing in an attempt to fill several small voids. While that was curing,
I made a back (mounting plate) out of .032 aluminum , match drilled the screw holes on the wingtip, and installed nutplates.
(Sorry,
no photo.)
February 7, 2009 ... I sanded the fairing again, and drilled the access hole for the NAV/Strobe Molex connector. Then,
using Micro-spheres, I filled the rest of the voids in the fairing. While that was curing, I dimpled the wingtip, made the enlarged
hole for the NAV/Strobe Molex connector, and did a final (Scotchbrite) clean-up of the wingtip. I also started fabricating some of
the parts for the fuselage.
The photo to the left shows the aft fuselage web.
Finally ... We have a winner!