Preparing for Trip #2

Meeting Kim Johnson on Trip #1 proved to be very fortunate. Kim put me in touch with, or helped me get in touch with, two great guys: John Schmidt and Keith Rhode.

John Schmidt is your classic airplane nut - which makes him great company for an airplane nut like myself. He's working on an RV-6, has a share in a Piper Cub, flies a Stinson L-5 for the Commemorative Air Force, is nuts about Young Eagles, and I'm sure there is lots more ... what more do I need to say? This: he's a great guy too! John offered his services to help me complete the 40 hours of test flying on W0014 and the subsequent flying to get it up to 100 hrs. As a experienced taildragger driver, I was compelled to accept. He also offered his home as a place for me to stay while in Minneapolis, for which I will be forever grateful.

Keith is a retired A&P, who is the owner/builder/pilot of a kit-built Sonex. Originally powered by an Aerovee, Keith felt his airplane was underpowered and swapped in a Jabiru 3300. His expertise as a mechanic is invaluable and serves to temper my ignorance.

In fact, during my first conversation with Keith, he pointed out that Sonex had issued a service bulletin (SB) related to the Waiex tail - D'OH! Rookie mistake: check for service bulletins before you buy! Keith was correct, Sonex had issued a service bulletin (WIX-SB-001) which applied to W0014. This service bulletin resulted from the in-flight breakup of another Waiex (N75654) on October 22nd, 2011. For more information on this accident, see the NTSB's docket. The accident resulted in a fatality, and opinions on message boards and forums have been divided. I'll leave it to the reader to review the NTSB's file and come to their own conclusions.

NTSB Accident ID ERA12FA018

I did a bit more research on the SB and inquired with Joel Fuller as to whether the SB had been actioned (since W0014 had been sitting for a while, I suspected that it hadn't), and whether or not Joel had the relevant parts and documents from Sonex. The modifications required by the SB had not been completed, but Joel had the parts. I felt like a bit of a bonehead.

WIX-SB-001

This set the tone for trip #2: 1) Complete the tail SB, 2) get the engine sorted out.

My plan for the engine was to take it to an automotive shop that works on air-cooled VWs. Through Joel Herman of the Red River VW Club (I got no response from the Twin Cities VW Club), I was put in touch with Tristan at Further Performance in Minneapolis. Tristan said that his shop would be happy to work on my engine to rectify the oil leak and verify that it was assembled correctly.

I now had a plan: fly to Minneapolis, stay with John, remove the engine, take it to Tristan, and work on the tail with Keith. At the conclusion of Trip #2, I hoped to have the tail SB done, the engine reinstalled, and the aircraft ready for flight. As it turns out, that was a bit of an ambitious plan...