by fly_boy_bc » Thu Jan 31, 2013 2:21 pm
The Sonerai II (original) is one of the most versatile two place homebuilt aircraft ever conceived. In its original form, the standard Sonerai II is a mid-wing, two place tandem aircraft, that is flown from the rear seat solo. The II-L is the same aircraft but with a "low-wing". The low-wing version is especially popular with 6 foot plus pilots, as the pilot legs go over the main spar carry through structure. The Sonerai II-LT (Low-wing, tri-gear) is the same as the Sonerai II-L, but has a steerable nosewheel added to the structure. Many builders with limited or no taildragger experience opt for the tri-gear addition.
All models of the Sonerai II use a minimum of different sizes of materials to reduce the cost, without hampering the integrity of the design. The wing is all aluminum and is composed of two panels that easily fold along side the fuselage enabling the Sonerai II, II-L and II-LT to be towed tail first on its own gear. Stainless steel cherry rivets are used to skin the wing. The fuselage and tail surfaces are constructed of standard sizes of 4130 steel tubing that are fabric covered. All aluminum sheet used is 2024-T3 .025" except for the spars which are .040".
DESIGN LIMIT AT FULL GROSS +/- 4 G's
AEROBATIC LIMIT SOLO W/755 LBS. +/- 6 G's
TAKE OFF DISTANCE 900 FT.
STALL SPEED 45 MPH
LANDING SPEED 58 MPH
MANEUVERING SPEEDM 115 MPH
CRUISING SPEED AT 75% 140 MPH
VNE 200 MPH
RANGE W/45 MINUTE RESERVE 245 SM
RATE OF CLIMB AT GROSS 500 FPM