Mike Stearns - Sonex #412
Our neighborhood Sonex project
Delivery Boy Jr.

LINKS

My Inspiration

Construction Photos

EAA National Site

EAA Chapter 7, LGB

Young Eagles Website

Sonex Ltd. Website

E-mail


Jason Parker checks a finished flap rib.
Dylan Levine rivets a flap drive plate.

 


PZ-C, "Delivery Boy." Flown by Lt. John D. Stearns. Illustration by Rocky Gooch.

My first flap rib!
 On weekends, I shed my daily guise as a training specialist for a southern California technology company, put on my sunglasses and headsets and teach people to fly. I've been instructing for about 12 years now, and to marry my love of teaching with my love for aviation is something about which I feel, well...very, very lucky to be able to do! I'm a member of EAA Chapter 7 in Long Beach, CA. At AirVenture 2001, a couple of my younger students (both graduates of EAA's Young Eagles Program) came to me excited about a small airplane they'd seen on display across from Van's sparkling new RV-7. It was called a Sonex. While sitting in the RV, feeling my wallet painfully press against my backside with reality, I glanced across the way at a couple of "cute" silver airplanes that beckoned invitingly.

I sat in the outwardly dimunitive airplane, and not only was it much roomier than it appeared (40" at the shoulders), but I noticed my wallet didn't hurt...not as much anyway. This was a project that would be financially achievable! It had an incredible speed range...better than 4:1. It was a 4.4g airplane at its gross weight of 1100 pounds and a 6g aerobat at 850 pounds. The construction was simple, using mostly blind rivets, and the plans were some of the best anywhere. Without too much coaxing from my students, I found myself seriously considering the Sonex. I ordered my "scratch build" kit the first part of December, 2001 and took delivery within a week or two after.

In addition to the basic kit, I ordered the pre-formed aluminum kit from Sonex, Ltd. It included the flaps, ailerons, elevator and rudder, eliminating the need for me to try to find a six to eight foot bending brake.

The airplane will be a "paint and polish" finish, using Nuvite for a mirror-like surface and the paint scheme from my dad's World War II mount, a P-51 Mustang called "Delivery Boy."


My initial plans for panel layout. There's a lot of information available in the IK-2000 in the center of the panel

And as for my students: They helped talk me into it. Now they're going to help me build it!


Dylan puts some screws in our 12'x4' table.

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