Bringing it all together Waiex s/n64 FWF decided
Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2016 1:33 amHello Folks,
Well this whirlwind of a project is coming together nicely, abeit early in the process. I ordered the tail kit from the factory back in December and during the assembly of the tail I found Waiex s/n 64 in kit form for sale in Texas. Only the tail had been built as well as the flaps and ailerons. Since I already had a new tail under construction and because I wanted the sport acro control surfaces, the already built parts will be hangar art. Essentially what I have left is a complete kit, four owners later. The only down side of this 9 year old early kit is that it is one of the earlier production kits with fewer matched hole parts. I can deal with that for half price.
Now that you know some background, I want to take a moment to personally thank Mike Farley for his support over several phone calls as well as Kerry Fores for answering numerous questions full well knowing I am working with an older kit whose profit dollars were long ago earned and spent by the factory (Kerry and Sonex are a class act)
I am currently working on the aft fuselage and hoping to be flying by Sun & Fun 2017, wish me luck. I have decided to build with a polished finish and minimalist features to keep weight down every where I can. That being said, I have decided to go with 120 HP Corvair power. I made my final decision after ordering William Wynne's build and flight manuals but mainly because Dan Weseman (first Cleanex builder) has graciously gone beyond my expectations with respect to discussing my build with particular care on performance and FWF weights. I feel incredibly confident that with the use of things like the welded aluminum oil pan, 2400L starter, forged crank , early "light cast" heads and many other small items, I will be able to have the best compromise of weight, performance and maintenance costs. I plan to have Dan assemble the bottom end of the engine and I will complete the engine and test run it in Barnwell SC this coming November at Corvair College. On a final note about Dan, he had nothing negative to say about the Sonex factory supported engine options and was very neutral on the subject letting me ask the questions and make up my own mind. This was refreshing and rare from my perspective. As a side note, I intend to keep accurate weights of the engine at every phase of installation on the airframe using digital scales. I need to do this because I want to know and because getting an honest answer on FWF weights in aviation circles is like asking a female what she weighs. Oh, almost forgot. I intend o use twin lithium iron batteries in the tail for a total weight of about 7# that will NOT be forward of or on the firewall. Two batteries because of the Corvaie coil based ignition system needs it for for redundancy
I hope to update here regularly but wanted to share where I was in my build and how I have made decisions on my build so far.
Chris Schuldt
"Stranglehold Waiex" N-64YX
Well this whirlwind of a project is coming together nicely, abeit early in the process. I ordered the tail kit from the factory back in December and during the assembly of the tail I found Waiex s/n 64 in kit form for sale in Texas. Only the tail had been built as well as the flaps and ailerons. Since I already had a new tail under construction and because I wanted the sport acro control surfaces, the already built parts will be hangar art. Essentially what I have left is a complete kit, four owners later. The only down side of this 9 year old early kit is that it is one of the earlier production kits with fewer matched hole parts. I can deal with that for half price.
Now that you know some background, I want to take a moment to personally thank Mike Farley for his support over several phone calls as well as Kerry Fores for answering numerous questions full well knowing I am working with an older kit whose profit dollars were long ago earned and spent by the factory (Kerry and Sonex are a class act)
I am currently working on the aft fuselage and hoping to be flying by Sun & Fun 2017, wish me luck. I have decided to build with a polished finish and minimalist features to keep weight down every where I can. That being said, I have decided to go with 120 HP Corvair power. I made my final decision after ordering William Wynne's build and flight manuals but mainly because Dan Weseman (first Cleanex builder) has graciously gone beyond my expectations with respect to discussing my build with particular care on performance and FWF weights. I feel incredibly confident that with the use of things like the welded aluminum oil pan, 2400L starter, forged crank , early "light cast" heads and many other small items, I will be able to have the best compromise of weight, performance and maintenance costs. I plan to have Dan assemble the bottom end of the engine and I will complete the engine and test run it in Barnwell SC this coming November at Corvair College. On a final note about Dan, he had nothing negative to say about the Sonex factory supported engine options and was very neutral on the subject letting me ask the questions and make up my own mind. This was refreshing and rare from my perspective. As a side note, I intend to keep accurate weights of the engine at every phase of installation on the airframe using digital scales. I need to do this because I want to know and because getting an honest answer on FWF weights in aviation circles is like asking a female what she weighs. Oh, almost forgot. I intend o use twin lithium iron batteries in the tail for a total weight of about 7# that will NOT be forward of or on the firewall. Two batteries because of the Corvaie coil based ignition system needs it for for redundancy
I hope to update here regularly but wanted to share where I was in my build and how I have made decisions on my build so far.
Chris Schuldt
"Stranglehold Waiex" N-64YX