Monthly Archives: September 2014
Fuselage Completion #3 (Wheel and Brake Assemblies)
Total Build Time: 681 Hours Putting together the wheel assemblies mostly revolved around the brakes and wheel bearings. I don’t have any pictures of the wheel bearings themselves, but I used an automotive synthetic wheel bearing grease to pack them, using the palm of my hand to press the grease through the bearings. Here is … Continue reading
Fuselage Completion #2 (Main Landing Gear Legs)
Total Build Time: 681 Hours Installation of the main landing gear began with inserting the titanium gear legs into the engine mount. I then drilled through the titanium gear legs (no easy feat indeed!) to position the rods inside the engine mount, and set the camber of the main landing gear. To set the camber … Continue reading
Fuselage Completion #1 (Tailwheel)
Total Build Time: 670 Hours The tailwheel consists of a titanium spring, welded steel pivot points and a wheel. Drilling through the titanium proved to be the most difficult part of this process. Basically it took a LOT of cutting fluid and a LOT of patience, along with the best drill bits I could get … Continue reading
Forward Fuselage #10 (Engine Mount)
Total Build Time: 666 Hours. The engine mount was included in the kit from Sonex and was pre-welded to specs. Fitting the engine mount for the first time was a bit nerve-wracking, since it depended on all of my measurements in my assembly of the front fuselage to be accurate. Since my Waiex will be … Continue reading