Sonex 362 Spar

Forward Fuselage

Lots of tight spaces for my 6 foot 200
pound frame. If I only knew then what
I know now I'd have waited until the very
last moment before riveting the firewall in
place. Don't hold me to this, but I think You
can mount rudder pedals, flap tube, glare
shield, and upper firewall with lower firewall
only clecoed. It's murder getting to any nuts
under the glare shield from the seat area,
Left fuselage side has lots of details to mount

Sure is a good feeling when you start to see the
fuselage start to come together..now it's a plane especially if you do like I did and mount the
tank before you install the small bolts at the
forward end of the glare shield. Believe me
you don't want to be installing these after the
tank. And once you get the tank installed, you
don't want to take it out again to install these
little bolts. A detailed build order would sure
be great for these situations. I know this would
be a great time saver, not only to plans builders,
but kit builders as well.
As you can see in the pictures I used the Vans
air vents, I waited until last minute to decide

between these, or as on the plans. I'm sure
I'll be very glad on these hot Florida days.
I decided early on to use a type of carpet
that's used in automotive interiors called
stretch carpet. It weighs hardly nothing and
is very forgiving when forming around corners
and such. As a bonus its quite effective as a
noise reducer.

Carpet was installed before the glareshield.
This made it a breeze and I know noise level will
be much lower than bare metal only.

I think the panel turned out very well, the lettering
was laser etched thru a coat of flat black, then
a coat of clear for durability

The panel is small, but the stratomaster helps
to fit a lot of information into a small area. Six
cylinder head temps, two exhaust gas temps, volt
meter, altitude, airspeed, vertical speed, oil
temp and pressure, and much more. Its a lot of
value for the money.
I wanted to try and keep from mounting anything
below the panel, so I could keep plenty of leg room.
That was another reason for the center stick, I was
just tired of having my lap full of yoke in the Cessnas.
I will however have to mount a transponder under the
panel if i ever install one, but that will be on the
passenger side.

BACK TO HOME

Lots of tight spaces for my 6 foot 200 pound frame. If I only knew then what I know now I'd have waited until the very last moment before riveting the firewall in place. Don't hold me to this, but I think You can mount rudder pedals, flap tube, glare shield, and upper firewall with lower firewall only clecoed. It's murder getting to any nuts under the glare shield from the seat area,	Left fuselage side has lots of details to mount
Sure is a good feeling when you start to see the fuselage start to come together..now it's a plane	especially if you do like I did and mount the tank before you install the small bolts at the forward end of the glare shield. Believe me you don't want to be installing these after the tank. And once you get the tank installed, you don't want to take it out again to install these little bolts. A detailed build order would sure be great for these situations. I know this would be a great time saver, not only to plans builders, but kit builders as well. As you can see in the pictures I used the Vans air vents, I waited until last minute to decide
between these, or as on the plans. I'm sure I'll be very glad on these hot Florida days. I decided early on to use a type of carpet that's used in automotive interiors called stretch carpet. It weighs hardly nothing and is very forgiving when forming around corners and such. As a bonus its quite effective as a noise reducer.	Carpet was installed before the glareshield. This made it a breeze and I know noise level will be much lower than bare metal only.
I think the panel turned out very well, the lettering was laser etched thru a coat of flat black, then a coat of clear for durability	The panel is small, but the stratomaster helps to fit a lot of information into a small area. Six cylinder head temps, two exhaust gas temps, volt meter, altitude, airspeed, vertical speed, oil temp and pressure, and much more. Its a lot of value for the money. I wanted to try and keep from mounting anything below the panel, so I could keep plenty of leg room. That was another reason for the center stick, I was just tired of having my lap full of yoke in the Cessnas. I will however have to mount a transponder under the panel if i ever install one, but that will be on the passenger side.