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Date: 01-10-2026
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Number of Hours: 2.70
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Short Description: 3D Scanning Of The Nose Wheel Strut & Tire
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The background here is the nose wheel pant that was provided with the Sonex-B kit is from the original Sonex (legacy) kit, and cannot be fit onto the Sonex-B wheel fork per the plans. The upper shoulders of the fork on the legacy model nose wheel strut were much more rounded and more arch-shaped, providing a narrower upper mounting surface and allowing the top of the provided wheel pant to be lowered down into full contact with the top of the fork per the plans. The fork provided with the B-Model kit has a fork on the nose wheel strut that is more squared-off, with rounded-corners at the top of the fork, producing a much wider surface at the contact point where the pant inner surface should fit down all the way onto the upper surface of the fork to be properly fit and mounted. I have not seen this legacy fork, but a member of my EAA Chapter (#226 – Anderson, IN) built a Sonex legacy model and identified this fork design difference to me.
As a result, the kit provided wheel pant was going to take a significant amount of fiberglass modification and rework to make it fit. In addition to this rework in the design and form of the nose wheel pant, the plans called for fabricating an aluminum vertical fin for mounting/riveting to the rear of the upper pant surface. Since there was significant redesigning to be done, I decided to learn the process of 3D scanning and digitally designing in CAD (I use Fusion 360), then outputting a 3D printed plug for the purpose of making a re-usable gelcoat fiberglass mold. I also wanted to modify the design such that the pant had the vertical fin integrated into the design, and was a split two-piece fairing that could be removed without having to pull the nose wheel strut from the engine mount to slip the pant off over the top end of the strut. This would also simplify nose wheel inspection.
The process was started by 3D scanning the nose wheel strut with the tire mounted in the fork to provide a precise model around which to build the newly designed fairing in CAD.
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Inner view of upper surface of the kit provided nose wheel pant and the wheel/fork assembly.
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The complete nose wheel strut and tire assembly was 3D scanned and the mesh imported into Fusion 360.
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Identification of the basic dimensions and shape for the core design of the nose wheel pant/fairing.
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