Author Archives: Ryan
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
Summer 2014 Hiatus
Hello All! Just a quick post to give an update on the status of the project. The arrival of summer in Knoxville has filled much of my time with other activities. Right now the plane sits with firewall mostly installed and main landing gear partially installed. The Aerovee Turbo has officially been announced, which is … Continue reading
Forward Fuselage #9 (Seat Installation)
Total Build Time: 661 Hours. Finally, the seat installation… a fabrication and assembly process that I’ve both been dreading and looking forward to, for quite some time. Dreading because it involves large accurate bends in aluminum sheet metal that I have not performed before (and is typically done on a proper bending brake, which I … Continue reading
Forward Fuselage #8 (Flap detent, elevator push-rod cover)
Total build time: 646 Hours. Two more small details in the cockpit before I get to completing the seat installation. First is installing a protective cover for the elevator pushrod that eventually will go from the control sticks, down the center of the bottom of the seat, back to the idler bellcrank. A few cuts in the pre-bent cover … Continue reading
Forward Fuselage #7 (Glare-shield and Instrument Panel)
Total Build Time: 640 Hours. The glare-shield is essentially the dashboard of the aircraft… it lies behind/above the instrument panel and connects the area between the instrument panel and the firewall. It’s somewhat ironic that it’s called a glare-shield in my aircraft, since the usual purpose of a glare-shield is to reduce the glare from … Continue reading
Forward Fuselage #6 (Aft lower cabin details, idler.)
Total Build Time: 634 Hours. There are quite a few details on the floor of the forward fuselage, under the area that will eventually be the seat. I made a few angle components, including one that will support the lower part of the seat sling. A clearance is cut in the angle to allow the … Continue reading
Forward Fuselage #5 (Fuselage Box assembly, floor, and spar tunnel.)
Total Build Time: 612 Hours. With the side panels complete, it’s time to start putting the forward fuselage together! I positioned the aft fuselage and flipped it upside down. I shimmed the fuselage and placed a table to support the side panels. I taped some 2×2 wood to the upper longerons to protect … Continue reading
Forward Fuselage #4 (Side panel Riveting, NACA vents, upper longeron slots, polishing)
Total Build Time: 584 Hours. At this stage in the project, I made a couple decisions that would further modify my Waiex from the plans. One decision was to add some large vents to the side panels to provide extra ventilation in the cockpit. After reviewing pictures and consulting some other builders, I found what … Continue reading
Forward Fuselage #3 (Upper and Lower firewall)
Total Build Time: 576 Hours The firewall is literally a wall of steel near the front of the aircraft that separates the cockpit from the engine compartment. It serves to contain the heat of the engine from the cockpit, as well as a safety barrier in case of a fire in the engine compartment. The … Continue reading
Forward Fuselage #2 (Side panel assembly)
Total Build Time: 556 Hours My angle component fabrication is complete for the forward fuselage side panels, so now comes the task of aligning the parts into the proper positions on the side panel skins. For fun, I put the skin into its position relative to the aft fuselage, to get an idea of … Continue reading
Forward Fuselage #1 (Angle material fabrication)
Total build time: 546 hours. My wings, aft fuselage, and empennage are complete. Work now turns to the forward fuselage, which ties everything together. The wings, aft fuselage, engine and pilot are all connected through the forward fuselage. This means that the forward fuselage is both complex and very strong. Strength comes largely from … Continue reading
Aft Fuselage #8 (Aluminum material recall/repair)
Repair work: 20 hours. The front and aft fuselages are joined on 4 corners at the longerons by splice plates… 3 of these 4 pairs splice plates were included in the material recall and had to be replaced. 1 pair in particular, the upper horizontal splice plates, would require a LOT of work to be … Continue reading