OT- Waiex 191

[Waiex191]

I just finished installing all of the bits in my panel tonight.  Next session I'll be riveting on the floor and hope to run the engine early May.

[fj1289]

Awesome!   Very cool!   

[Millietant]

Looking like real progress there Bryan 

[Waiex191]

Thanks guys!  It's hard to believe that I'm almost done.  I would have been done sooner except I spent all that time bringing my FJ back to life.  Plus a thousand other things.

Adam has been my chief riveter since the beginning, when he was 12.  Now he is finishing up his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, so he is not around very much.  I'm saving the last rivet in the floor for hiim.


Here is a time lapse of some other riveting:
https://youtu.be/Xa4O4vRuJrU

[Old Rider]

Great work you and Adam must have developed some serious handshake force after all that riveting  i saw that video you was using a airtool, but many rivets was done by handforce

[Waiex191]

Great work you and Adam must have developed some serious handshake force after all that riveting   i saw that video you was using a airtool, but many rivets was done by handforce

There were a small percentage of rivets done by hand.  What you are seeing is we are installing and removing clecoes.  A cleco is a spring loaded tool that aligns and clamps parts together through a hole. Every aircraft manufacturer uses them - Boeing, Airbus, Cessna, Beechcraft, Sikorsky, and so on.  Yes you definitely develop hand muscles!  I have not removed and replaced clecoes in any great amount recently so my hands definitely got tired and I had to switch left & right while doing the floors.

Here is a good video on clecoes.  The car guys seem to have discovered them also.
https://youtu.be/jgqA48Pe9mA

I have hundreds in the 3/32" and 1/8" size.

[Waiex191]

Last weekend we did our fuel flow test.  Minimum fuel, airplane chocked at the top of the hill behind the hangar, and we measured fuel flow in a very nose up attitude, with minimum fuel.  It passed.  With 1 gallon remaining we had 11.5 gallons/hour.  Maximum fuel flow is 7 gallons/hour and you are shooting for 1.5X, or about 10.5 GPH.  Up at a more reasonable fuel level, like 4 gallons, it was over 24GPH.  This is a gravity feed system.


While we were out we did our first comms check with somebody in the pattern.  Loud and clear.

After that we bled the brakes and then went for a ride (FJ and V30 Magna - not the airplane).  it was a good day.

Since then I've connected the fuel line to the carb and addressed some squawks we discovered during the comms check - pilot and copilot PTT buttons swapped, and the nav/com audio selector backwards.

First engine start when my kid finishes finals at the end of the month.

[fj1289]

Too cool!  Can't wait to see it up in the air!

[woodcreekpete]

Too cool!  Can't wait to see it up in the air!

Totally impressive - that thing is beautiful!

[Waiex191]

A major milestone - the last rivet.
https://youtu.be/j14hXlAr2yw

We should have the weight and balance done by next week.

[Waiex191]

We have cranked the engine - and registered oil pressure.
https://youtu.be/BMqEEzBxa6g

We leveled the aircraft and using plumb bobs etc have measured all the lever arms from the datum.  Time to roll it on the scales.

[fj1289]

Awesome!   Cool to see the constant incremental progress!

Will you be doing the initial flight tests?  Or hire that out?

[Waiex191]

I'll be doing the flight test.  First I need to get recurrent, and more importantly I need to get proficient again.  I haven't flown in almost 8 years.  But I've got 1000+ hours, much of it tailwheel.  I used to tow and fly gliders.  I have my helicopter rating but not a lot of rotary wing hours.  I did all my acro training in a Pitts S2A, except for one flight in a Decathlon.  There are many different types in my logbook.  The flight school here has a Cessna C140 which is a good place to start - tailwheel, side by side, and spring gear.  I'll be flying with friends in their C140s and Luscombes, and I'll seek out more Sonex time before I fly it.

[Waiex191]

First engine start!  With FJ1200 in the background of course.
https://youtu.be/uHAaI3cqUjw

[FJmonkey]

That has to feel good...