Hangar Completion
First Flight Analysis
This post is my debrief of my first flight experience that I’m hoping will be helpful for other builders and first-flight pilots. First, the buildup to first flight will be unique to every builder. For me, I was ready for awhile (almost 2 months since airworthiness inspection) and was basically waiting for a day for … Continue reading
FIRST FLIGHT!
Father’s Day, 6/16/2019 Well, it flies! See below for more pictures. I will make a separate post detailing my experience and lessons learned/issues encountered for this flight. Cockpit video of first flight: I scheduled this first flight on less than 24 hours notice due to schedules and weather, so not as many friends/family were able … Continue reading
2019: Aircraft Complete. Ready for Inspection
Total Build Time: 1360 Hours Waiex Aircraft Kit: Complete Engine: Complete Avionics: Complete Weight and Balance: Complete Aircraft Registration: N197RR Condition Inspection: Complete Paperwork: Complete Airworthiness Inspection: Scheduled for 4/22/2019. Aircraft Make: Ryan C RothAircraft Model: Roth Waiex Engine Manufacturer: Ryan C RothEngine Model: Roth Aerovee Turbo Project Duration: 5 Years 5 Months Update: Airworthiness … Continue reading
2018: Weight and Balance
Total Build Time: 1350 Hours To begin the Weight and Balance measurements and calculations, I positioned the main wheels on an existing straight crack in the concrete floor and then leveled the tail of the plane. I then used a plumb bob to measure the various required parts of the aircraft that needed to … Continue reading
2018: Fuel System Test
Total Build Time: 1350 hours The first step I took in my fuel system test was to see at what point there is too little fuel in the tank to gravity-feed the engine. I drained most of the fuel out of the tank and did a short engine run until it sputtered out. The fuel … Continue reading
2018: Carb and Throttle Issues
Total Build Time: 1347 Hours When I came to the plane today, among other things, I did an engine test run and things seemed to be normal. A few hours later I was beginning to wrap things up at the hangar, and happened to do a random check of the freedom of the throttle lever … Continue reading
FINAL RIVET
Total Build Time: 1342 Hours Today the Final Rivet was set on the aircraft. I saved it for my wife and daughter, who did the honors:
2017: Aft Fuselage Floor
Total Build Time: 1337 Hours Now that I’ve completed all of my work in the aft fuselage (radio, ELT, rudder/stabilator/mixer connections, it’s finally time to install the final major component of the entire airframe… the aft fuselage floor: It has been almost exactly 3 years since I fitted the aft fuselage floor to … Continue reading
2017 Painting and Polishing
Total Build Time: 1331 Hours The paint color I decided to use on all my fiberglass/plastic parts was a basic rattle-can Rustoleum paint+primer in a blue color called Seaside. For all the aluminum parts, I also used Rustoleum self-etching primer as a base coat. My first parts to be painted were the tail … Continue reading
2017 Fairings and Wheel pants.
Total Build Time: 1303 Hours This is a long post with lots of photos spanning about 3 months of intermittent work. Here is the order of operations in this post: -Tail Fairing fabrication/installation -Jacking up the aircraft -Wheel pant fabrication/installation -Landing Gear fairing fabrication Quick note: I did fabricate but did not ultimately install … Continue reading
2017 Aerovee Turbo Service Bulletin ACV-SB-091616-1B
Total Build Time: 1296 Hours After nearly a year hiatus from working on my nearly-finished Waiex (primarily due to the procurement and arrival of a new member to my family!) I returned to the Hangar to start dusting off the project for the final push to completion. In doing so, I performed an engine test … Continue reading
Sept 2017 Update (Wings, Stabilators, Paint and more)
Total Build Time: 1245 Hours Here is the very short story of why I haven’t made a blog post in over a year and a half: I got married and had a daughter. In other words, life happened! However, I’m finally back at the project and rolling towards completion. I’ll be following up this post … Continue reading
2017 Engine Mount Bushing Issues
Total Build Time: 1290 Hours After about 2 years of having the engine and cowling fitted to the airframe, when I put the cowling on the airplane I noticed that the prop hub was rubbing on the cowling. What can be seen in the above photo is the top and bottom of the propeller hub … Continue reading
2017 ELT Defect and Replacement
The Ameri-King AK-450 ELT that I originally installed back in 2016 had some serious issues. The original post when I fabricated the tray and installed the ELT can be found here: Hangar Completion #9 (ELT Installation) In the above post, I had completed the installation of the ELT when the aircraft was in my basement, … Continue reading
Hangar Completion #9 (ELT Installation)
Total Build Time: 1214 Hours. There is no guidance in the plans for the installation of an Emergency Locator Transmitter, however it’s something that’s required by the FAA before my plane can be certificated. It needs to be mounted in a strong and secure manner, and I selected a location 2 bulkheads behind the cockpit, … Continue reading