Total build time: 201 hours.
Some might wonder why this airplane is called the Waiex and not the VeeEx. Well, I’m here to tell you that it’s because this is actually a Y-tailed aircraft, as opposed to a V-tailed aircraft that has been more prevalent in the past (such as the V-tailed Bonanza.) This fact is due to the small “stub” rudder located below the stabilators. It begins its life much like the ruddervators did.
The drive horn for the rudder is particularly intricate, with 4 parts making up its shape.
The rudder skin needs some subtle angles cut into it. Since I’ll be using a miter saw to make the cuts, finding the angle using the dimensions from the blueprints helps simplify things while still staying accurate. Whoever said you’d never use trigonometry after high school!?
I then clamped my drive horn to the workbench for drilling to help keep things straight.
With drilling and deburring complete, all that is left is polish and rivets.
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