Waterborne Paint Product Suppliers

A list of water-borne paint product suppliers.

• Stewart Systems - Fabric covering systems


• PW Paints - Mil spec and specialty paints

Bead Blasting

Thinking ahead, bead blasting will be necessary to clean the fuselage before welding and painting. How will this be possible?

I found a few idea's and obviously, the smaller blasting boxes are not suitable for a fuselage. Here's a few setups I have found:

• Blasting booth for a fuselage, although this setup seems quite complex.

If you have any better idea's please pass them on.

Tube Notching Templates

Tube  notching, pipe notching, and tube coping, are all various names given to describe how to cut one piece of tube to fit onto another piece of tube. We can also use tube miter templates or notch templates to make this alot easier, especially if you don't have a hole notcher like the Ol' Joint Jigger , SpeedWerx Tube Notcher  or Harbor Freight Tube Notcher. Cartesian calculations can be made to make a pattern in 2d (i.e. the template) which outlines the cut you will need to make to have your tube fit exactly onto another tube. Simply, wrap the printed results of the calculation around your tube and cut the end as per the line. I found a few examples of the software which come as online (server side) software or stand-alone software shown below.

• Tube Notching calculation, online software - http://www.metalgeek.com/static/cope.pcgi


• Tube Miter by Giles Puckett. Download Tube Miter - standalone software (Windows)


• Pipe Joint Template online software by HarderWoods - online software.


• WinMiter tube notching template software by unknown author - download WinMiter - standalone software (Windows) and Perl script


• Tube Generator by Next Step Engineering - online software

Good luck notching!

Keeping It Light: Aircraft Welding Equipment

I have recognised very quickly that weight must be kept to a minimum on your welding torch and the hoses if possible. I currently have the Henrob torch which is quite heavy to hold along with its heavy duty hose, especially when working on fine welds. Flexibility of the heavy duty hose supplied with the Henrob is limited.

First thing we can do is reduce the weight of the hose. TinMan Technologies provides 2 light weight welding hoses. These hoses come with a "A" size torch fitting and a "B" size regulator fitting. One is light weight, the other is ultra light weight.

These hoses need to be modified at both ends for Australian regulators at one end, and for the "B" fitting of the Henrob Torch. Alternatively, an adapter may be available for going from an "A" fitting to a "B" fitting on the Henrob Torch.

The second way of reducing the weight of my Henrob torch is to buy a Meco Midget welding torch from Tinman Technologies.  The Meco Midget is also available in Australia from Dent Aviation with Australian fittings.

Water Based Primer & Finish

People friendly, water based, aircraft grade paint, cleaners and other products used in aircraft have been a hard thing to find in the past. Stewart Systems has come up with a line of environmentally friendly products (STC approved) to protect and finish your aircraft. They provide fabric, metal, composite, and wood primers and top-coat finishes. Also cleaners, protectants and polishes. All of these EPA compliant and much safer than most traditional chemicals which are much more hazardous to the aircraft builder and his/her environment.

I will use the Stewart Systems products on my project mainly due to it being less toxic. The 2 part epoxy primer will be used over the Chromoly steel fuselage along with their fabric covering process. Heres a great testimonial on Stuart Systems epoxy primer, suitable for gluing fabric onto from the Sonerai.net website.

Extended Canopy or NOT?

Last weekend I was down at my local airfield and saw a recently completed Sonerai 2 LT (Fred's). I spoke to Fred regarding the canopy and if it would be worthwhile getting the canopy which extends further down the canopy frame for better downward vision.

Since my canopy will have more viewing area (from the raised turtle deck) I will see more from the higher eye height so I wont need to extend the canopy further downward.

My conclusion was that this would be worthwhile and Todd's Canopies will be the most likely supplier for this.

Engine Mount for test stand

Shortly I will make a test stand for the engine. It will also be a mockup for the installation so I can sort out any issues early before I go doing an real mounting. The test mount will be a close replica of the real engine mount and I will weld it up myself. I recently bought the engine mounting rubbers and accessories directly from Jabiru

I will buy the engine mount manufactured by Jabiru for the actual aircraft. Plans for the Jabiru engine mount and firewall changes for the Sonerai are available directly from Jabiru