Tri vs tail
Posted: Fri Jan 27, 2012 7:43 pm
by Mike53
Onex_painted_1114.jpg (122.59 KiB) Viewed 5309 times
Onex-Tri_2571-12.jpg (92.32 KiB) Viewed 5309 times
They both look good .I’ve ordered the Tail wheel but now that I see the Tri gear all painted up I’m wondering :?
Who else ordered the tail wheel ,and now looking at the Tri gear any second thoughts ?
Re: Tri vs tail
Posted: Sat Jan 28, 2012 12:07 am
by MichaelFarley56
Just remember that the taildragger is always faster! 
You are right though..they nailed the looks on both versions. I doubt you’re going to go wrong either way in the end. I should know this but are you working on the fuselage yet? Maybe you can think about it for a while then if you decide to switch just order what’s needed to change over.
Re: Tri vs tail
Posted: Sat Jan 28, 2012 12:58 am
by Mike53
MichaelFarley56 wrote:Just remember that the taildragger is always faster!
You are right though..they nailed the looks on both versions. I doubt you’re going to go wrong either way in the end. I should know this but are you working on the fuselage yet? Maybe you can think about it for a while then if you decide to switch just order what’s needed to change over.
It must be true about the dragger being faster as they left the flames off the tri-gear. :o I have a ship date for the remaining kits of April 9th to 13th and only have the tail kit completed.I’m afraid I’m driving them crazy at Sonex.First I ordered the tri-gear then changed to the tail wheel now having seen the tri all dolled up I am toying with going back to tri-gear. :?:
Re: Tri vs tail
Posted: Sat Jan 28, 2012 7:11 pm
by MichaelFarley56
Well, the good news is I think you’re going to have a great plane regardless of which way you build it. I know this one will be a tough decision but if I were to guess you probably have some time to decide and make the call if you’re going to switch back to tri gear.
I thought about this decision for a bit too but had a local RV builder tell me that the right answer is to build the airplane my heart said to build, not what my head said. So even though I have yet to log a single hour or tailwheel time, thats what I built and every time I see my project nearing completion in my hangar, I’m thrilled to be building EXACTLY what I want.
So what’s your heart telling you? 
Re: Tri vs tail
Posted: Sat Jan 28, 2012 11:03 pm
by Mike53
Good way of looking at it.As you said ,I have a little time so I will let it percolate.I have flown and landed a Champ (with the instructor in the back seat of course) and found it not too dificult.As long as your nose is pointed the same direction as the plane is heading on landing it’s no big deal.Though I hate heal brakes :x .In Canada there is no tail wheel rating or endorsement to get,only common sense to guide you.I was told that the Onex can be flown ala Cherokee, sans feet .The Champ not so ,as in most traditional draggers,so that is comforting to know.
Insurance $134 /year cheaper for Tri-gear but it costs $600 more for the nose wheel.Tail dragger is better for grass but will be harder to sell.Off airport landing stand a much better chance of no damage with a tail dragger,as a rough field will be very unforgiving to a nose wheel no matter how good your soft field landing is :?
That’s my head thinking.
Now to “Percolate”
Re: Tri vs tail
Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2012 8:14 pm
by Andy Walker
For my Sonex I went with tri-gear, because as a low time pilot I wanted something easy to taxi, fly, and land. So many things have to go right in building an experimental airplane, I didn’t need one more thing to worry about when I finally get to fly it.