Airplane blog is up

I have the new blog up to document the build of my sonerai. check it out at phillipsonerai.blogspot.com

New blog

For all the people that have followed this blog for the cartopper build. I am building an airplane and will be making a new blog. So check back later for the new link.

Plans arrived

The plans are here. Wow! There is a lot of information to go over with this thing. I don't know if I said it before but I think I'll be drawing it up in autodesk inventor before actually starting the build.

Time to build an airplane.

It looks like I have a new project in mind. A rather long term commitment to build an airplane. Specifically the sonerai II lts. Low wing tri-gear stretch. The plans are my birthday present, and over the next few months in what is left of my spare I will begin building the various forms for the plane. I'm expecting this project to take 5 years, but hoping for 3 to 4 if money will allow. This will be completely scratch built, and as much as i hate fiberglass the cowl and wheelpants will be built by me also.

She Floats!

If you take a look of the pictures from earlier today the boat floats, the motor runs and all is right with the world. We had a lit of fun at turkey creek on the boats maiden voyage. I did have a moment of panic about five minutes in when I Noticed we had a little bit of water in it. Maybe a cup or two total. I kept watching it and no more came in so it must have come in when I got into the boat. We were out for over an hour and not a single problem developed other than a few spots in the paint. I hate painting so I wasn't surprised. I am really glad about using the 6oz cloth and totally fiberglassing the hull. It really paid off on the boat ramp. Still some finish work to do when the winter gets here, but for now we are just going to fish(I'll have to learn this one), have fun, and enjoy her. Thanks everyone for following me on my journey, we will keep posting pics of where we take her and anything that I change.

Maiden Voyage

Registered

Finally got the boat registered today. So that means the maiden voyage will be either Saturday or Tuesday. It will probably be Tuesday because my wife will be off.  can't wait really excited!

9 months

So I've spent months trying to build a boat now they won't let me register it.

Cartopper is ready to float.

Still a few little things left to do, but we will take it out this weekend whether they are done our not.

Painted

Painted picture

Thanks sarah.

Interior painted

Thanks to the wonderful work of my wife the interior of the boat has finally been painted. I'll post a picture tomorrow.

More clamps

I need more clamps. Brought the motor home. Also decided to mount the seats directly to the side. Over the weekend I also bought a cheap belt sander. Love it.

Still building

It has been a busy week, but I am still building the cartopper. Just putting the finishing touches on the interior. namely building the seats.  Instead of having a removable seat I decided on two permanant ones attached to the side panels with t-88 epoxy. I am also going to build a provision for a mast just in case I decide to build a centerboard and sail it.

Allergy

So I developed an allergy to all the fiberglass. I wear a mask, but it forced me to not sand the interior of the boat any more than I already have. Which is okay. There are several ugly spots in the interior, but this was an experiment with stitch and glue construction more than anything. So it looks like this will be my last boat of that type. I'm looking at a few different clinker ply boats now for my next project. Anyway, here is the interior primed and waiting for a scotchbrite pad.

Done with rails.

The title says it all. No more woodworking left to do. I'm lO a little sad about that. I just have a little finish work and some sanding. I think the boat weighs right at 90 pounds right now. So I think I'll make a boat dolly since I'm going to use a utility trailer to haul it.

I'm already getting comments on how pretty the boat is from neighbors. They asked where they could get a boat like that too. I said the lumber yard.

Quick note on strength

The rub rail seems to add a substantial amount of rigedness to the boat. I wouldn't omit it.

Rubrail attached

I used stainless ring shank nails every six inches to attach the rub rails

Attaching the rub rails

Just takes lots of nails and clamps. I had to scarf two pieces of fir for enough length.