Sonerai S-II Race #37

[Jared]

Finally making a project post for my S-II. I purchased this plane from the second or third owner (can't quite remember), who put about 300 hours on it. It has just under 400 hours TT. It is an S-II original midwing with an 1835 HAPI and Warnke prop. The previous owner removed the instrument panel too rebuild it, removed the Posa carb to replace with an early 28 mm Aerocarb, and started on installing a set of Great Plains hydraulic brakes. He never completed these, as he bought a Pitts S1C, so the Sonerai has sat for 3-4 years in his hangar until I bought it. He seemed to have taken good care, had all the paperwork in order ( and I mean ALL of the paperwork, for just about every nut and bolt to the plane) which I was pleasantly surprised with, and a good amount of spare parts, to include 2 complete extra sets of dual port heads!

Here are a couple pictures from the previous owner. He removed the stripes from the top of the wings and the tail because he said the quality of work was bad on them and the edges were staring to chip. It still has the stripes on the bottom and I concur with what he said, looks pretty rough around the edges. I will put stripes back on as well as race numbers, looking into doing them all with vinyl decals.

[Jared]

This is how it looks now. Needs new wheel pants, thinking about making them out of aluminum!

[Jared]

Started installing the new Aerocarb the other day, unfortunately there is not much room to mount it how the manufacturer recommends, going to try it this way and see how bad the mixture differential is between each side of cylinders. Might make a small tunnel on the bottom of the cowling at a later date.

Here are a few pictures before I rotated the carb 180, it works much better and with a shorter cable the new way it's mounted.


And here is a few pictures inside the cowling showing how little room there is even with the carb on its side.

[Supervee]

It's looking' great!…Love the two tone blue color….Good pictures….Your Supervee Stickers are in the mail as of 2 hours ago……..

[Jared]

Thanks Ed, that was fast, just mailed the check the other day!!! Thanks also on the plane, any suggestions on mounting the carb, I think Dave mentioned in another post about having enough room, but I couldn't get the cowling on with it in the updraft and 45 degree angle?

[Supervee]

On my first carburetor on Blueberry (a Posa), I had the 'Y' pipe coming straight down the back of the engine , with the posa mounted to its bottom, with the throat facing down. A couple people in that day (Vern Wellingham and the #7 Renegade) had theirs mounted like you do, with the throat facing forward, and Vern even had it accepting ram air. Monnett's early brochures said that the Posa Loved ram air, but later on people disputed that….

[mhflyit]

Many of the II's have a bump/ramp on the lower cowling to create enough space, mine included.

[dmar836]

Looks great! Cables should work smoothly with it more forward. If I could, I would suggest two things. First, maybe a support of the front end. You would likely do that with your air cleaner setup anyway. The second would be the proximity to the oil sump and the related heat. Monnett's people say heat will warp that black plastic slide material. A fresh air source or final baffling might fix that.
Glad to hear you got to work on it. Looks like it's pretty close! I like that paint scheme as well. Classic and visible. JMO,
Dave

[dmar836]

Jared,
Curious. Have you weighed your S1 yet?
Dave

[Jared]

I was told by the previous owner that it was about 525 lbs. Will have to look around my paperwork and see if I can find the most recent w/b. I think I saw a couple and the last one stated 525.

[Jared]

I have noticed one thing though, there is no mount for an elt and the previous owner never mentioned one. I thought if it was considered a 2-place it had to have one? I also might add a small battery behind the seat, as there was one there at one point, just not any mounts for it. Those should add a little weight if they weren't in that last w/b, but it is still fairly light from what I hear others planes are, even with the big instrument panel in the back.

[Jared]

Here is how the cockpit is setup right now, I have to add the hydraulic brake controls in the back too.

[dmar836]

If I could dump the ELTs in my certified planes I would. Pretty much useless in a civilized area even when they did work. 121.5 isn't even monitored anymore yet it's still a legality.
If it were my S1(and I know you don't care) I would have no controls for that small of a second seat - especially brakes. Move 'em to the back. I wouldn't want anyone up there mashing on the brakes incorrectly during a landing. That has happened twice lately to friends of mine. One flipped and was totaled. You would also save some more weight.
"An expert on my opinion",
Dave

[Jared]

Received my order of stickers the other day, thanks Ed! Put a 6" one on the vertical stab, looks right at home! Going to work on getting the panel reinstalled today. Hope everyone is spending time with family and/or friends today, while remembering all those who gave the ultimate sacrifice!

[Supervee]

Looks Good!….perfect spot….