Waiex #197
Hangar Completion #8 (Stabilator fairing and final installation)
Total Build Time: 1209 Hours Up until this point, the rear stabilators have only been temporarily attached. This was mainly because I hadn’t yet made the fairing that joined them at the top and wanted to be able to remove them when fabricating this fairing. Well that time has finally come. Following advice from fellow … Continue reading
Hangar Completion #7 (Finalizing Firewall Forward.)
Total Build Time: 1198 Hours This post details most of the final details and preparations that allow me to say the following: the engine is ready to fly. To summarize, I’ve performed my initial ignition and fuel test runs, made my final cutouts and adjustments to the cowling and baffles, and made some small tweaks to … Continue reading
Hangar Completion #6 (Push to Talk (PTT) switches, Compass and Elevator Trim)
Total Build Time: 1194 Hours. This post has several small items in the cockpit that I finalized. First are the push-to-talk switches installed on my control sticks. This is the little button that’s pushed to transmit over the radio. I began by removing the control sticks from the aircraft and drilling a small hole in … Continue reading
Hangar Competion #5 (Throttle and Air Filter)
Total Build Time: 1180 Hours I’ll start this post by just saying that as the aircraft build reaches its final stages, there are a plethora of details that have to be addressed. Some issues I’ve solved recently: -Both of the magnetrons provided in my engine kit were faulty, in the sense that they could not … Continue reading
Hangar Completion #4 (First start and taxi)
Total Build Time: 1150 Hours. This post marks a huge milestone in my build… the Aerovee engine kit which I assembled earlier this year actually started! I’ll post some videos and pictures of the event here, then follow up with my experience and lessons learned at the end of the post below. Video of first … Continue reading
Hangar Completion #3 (oil, throttle, mixture)
Total build time: 1140 Hours. One of my last tasks before cranking my engine for the first time was to install the oil lines to the turbocharger. This consisted of several lines of metal tubing along with some flexible hose lines. Once the oil lines were run, I filled the oil sump with oil and … Continue reading
Hangar Completion #2: (Engine Baffles)
Total Build Time: 1130 Hours. The engine baffles took me far more time to complete than I expected (about 30 hours.) My primary concern when installing the baffles was to get a very tight seal between baffles and cowling in order to maximize cooling airflow over the cylinders and cylinder heads to keep engine temperatures … Continue reading
Hangar Completion #1 (Exhaust and Turbo Installation)
Total Build Time: 1100 Hours. Installation of my exhaust mainfold and turbocharger began with “clocking” the turbo. Basically, orienting the 3 sections of the turbo housing correctly (the turbine section, center oil section, and the compressor section.) This required some heavy duty snap ring pliers. I had to file down the tips of the pliers … Continue reading
Move of airplane from basement to hangar.
Total build time: 1086 Hours. This post marks a milestone in the build… successfully moving the aircraft from my basement to its new home in a hangar in Rockwood, TN. Airport identifier is KRKW. Back in December 2013 I made a post on this blog about my future plans to remove a relatively completed fuselage … Continue reading
Time-lapse Video, 900 hours of work and move to airport.
This video includes all the time-lapse footage I have from January 2014 until August 2015. It’s essentially the entire build of the airframe. It’s missing the first 200 hours of the project because I didn’t have the camera setup for that portion of the build.
Engine Cowling #3 (Hinge Fitment, cutouts and final fit.)
Total Build Time: 1082 Hours. With my repairs/reshaping of the cowling complete, I could now focus on the full fitment of the cowling. I noticed that there was some slight interference between the top side of the cowling and the oil cooler in the Turbo Aerovee installation. Removal of the small flange on top of … Continue reading
Engine Cowling #2 (Reshaping the cowling)
Total Build Time: 1060 Hours. Continuing from my previous post on the cowling, I had to find a solution to the over-sized cowling provided in my airframe kit. The following sequence of pictures show how I marked a cut line on the side of the cowling, and proceeded to cut a relief line in the … Continue reading
Engine Cowling #1 (Preparation and fitting)
Total Build Time: 1044 Hours. The fiberglass engine cowling shrouds the engine compartment and becomes the nose of the airplane. This was the last large component of my airplane that I wanted to complete prior to moving it to the airport/hangar for final assembly. Following the assembly instructions provided by Sonex, I began by fabricating … Continue reading
Fuselage Completion #24 (Control stick rigging and seat pan modification)
Total Build Time: 1041 Hours. Initially I found that, per the plans, the positioning of the stick-to-idler pushrod was offset in such a way that it would interfere with the path through the seat pan itself. In the below pictures you can see the angle of the pushrod. I did confirm that this setup … Continue reading
Fuselage Completion #23 (Fwd Floor, spar tunnel final installation)
Total Build Time: 1036 Hours. As my final task before permanently installing the forward fuselage floor, I decided to install 3 square attach points to the forward side of the spar tunnel (just below my knees when sitting) to allow for the future installation of cup holders or a storage pouch of some sort. The reason … Continue reading