CONGRATS on the SPL! and Brian your looking great, that's something to be proud of as I am sure your family is proud of you to. Your construction is something to be admired as well. I've been following your build and I am so looking forward to see some flying pics of you and your bird....BUT I am afraid all that building has been in vain. As the smile on your wife's face means that you will probably be building a 2 seater in the future.
Regards.Ken

Quoted from viktorvonragaman

.BUT I am afraid all that building has been in vain. As the smile on your wife's face means that you will probably be building a 2 seater in the future.
Regards.Ken

Shhhhhhhh if my wife reads this she will know my secret plans...... Just kidding as we say in New England I married a "wicked smart" girl... She often has figured out my plans before I even know them! A two seater is next! So many planes so little time! But only after the Minimax is flying! One project at a time

Wing two painted!

One more... Not bad for makeshift paint booth....

Looking very good. I had to contend with mosquitoes and black flies and Labrador Retriever hair when I did mine.   

Quoted from aeronut

Looking very good. I had to contend with mosquitoes and black flies and Labrador Retriever hair when I did mine.   

Lol.......all I am sure, add great character to the airplane!

Moving forward! Moved second wing to hanger returned with aileron and both canopies (enclosed and open) you see one of my helpers here. Ralph! Great guy...flew in the Berlin airlift and still active as heck at 89 years old! Although not current he was a pilot for many years!  also been working on instrument panel. The finish on both is 3/4 fiberglass cloth with Z-poxy finishing resin. It's a finish I used on my R/C aircraft. Super light, tough and smooth. I will document the process on next canopy in detail. I painted open canopy and took Ricardo's  suggestion and put a black anti glare panel under the lexan windshield area. Running rudder and tail wheel steering cables next. Then cover and paint empennage!
P.S. You may note wing tied down using  sheets from the bed! I didn't want to risk marring the new paint. Ralph was worried the wing wasn't secure enough! I told him that wasn't the real danger. The real danger was my wife finding out we were using the bed  sheets to secure the wing to the racks!!!

Couple more. So remember I fly out of class D airspace under the 30 mile mode C veil... So I need the transponder with mode c encoder, altimeter, airspeed indicator ect ect. Got it all in.... Phew!

Brian your panel looks great...if I had any doubts. You will be in the air very soon.

Monte

Awesome! I Love the paint design. You are doing a superb job.
I've just read a book about the Berlin airlift and post cold war operations written by Wolfgang Samuel "I always wanted to fly". Great stories. Your friend Ralph probably knows about the book.
Who's the guy hands in his pockets standing next to the SUV?.... he looks pretty much like you.

That panel looks great, Brian!

Bruce

Thanks guys! All the little pieces are coming together. Even more important they not only fit, but it's starting to look like an airplane! Yes indeed Ricardo that handsome devil in the baggy cloths is me! When I started this build those cloths were tight like sausage casings!

Quote: I've just read a book about the Berlin airlift and post cold war operations written by Wolfgang Samuel "I always wanted to fly".



Thanks for the recommendation! I just downloaded that book to my reader. Always looking for something interesting to read

Wow.  Just wow.  Cannot wait to see what this one looks like when it is all together.  Quite an accomplishment on all levels.

Brix,
Brother I have to give you major Kudos! Congrats on all the great things you have done. I am also back, I had elbow surgery and the kid chewed through $25000.00 in failed college attempts. I like the plane and looks like it has some room. I will have to think about that option.

EK~

I think that is the clearest and most aesthetically appealing panel I've ever seen.

Tom

Thanks for all the support and compliments guys! EK welcome back! I find the cockpit roomier than expected! If I was ding it all over again I may have ordered the kit with the material sized for a 26 inch wide body! But the goal is for me to fit in it! Not build it to fit me! 😀 speaking of that time to get serious and loose another 38 pounds! Covered the elevator. Also decided to rib stitch that also! It's ready to prime!

Some pics!

That panel looks great.
Not thinking I built mine with rigid mounts, you inspired me to re-think that and add some rubber isolators.

Great work Brian and congratulations on your weight loss!   I think you're wasting your time rib stitching the horizontal elevator. Are you getting ready for some enemy fire or you just got hooked up with that needle?  

Ul builder just went to your build thread! Great work! Keep it up! Ricardo yes I think stitching empennage is a bit overkill. But I like the look. Gives continuity to the airplane!  And it goes really fast. (Stitching, not the minimax😀) Lost 2 1/2 ponds since last post! 35 1/2 pounds to target minimax weight! End of week the wife and I are off on winter vacation. In the past it was cruises, lots of eating sleeping and coming home 10 pounds heavier! This vacation we are flying to California and hiking in Death Vally!
😀👍
Going to try to cover rudder vertical fin after I install pitot tube and strobe before we leave. Updates soon!

Brian I bet you drop some lbs. hiking Death Valley.

Monte

Brian

Your thread is a great motivation...
You are doing an amazing job!

Cheers
Reto

one word of caution about adding anything to the tail (weight)....   any little ounce back there will make you add pounds up front to compensate.
Might be ok with the VW engine, but start thinking about weight and balance of the aircraft as of now...

I ended up adding a 10# battery to the front of my HiMax because it has pitot tube in the tail, it's also the heavy tail plus a couple fuse mods...

Quoted from Tom

I think that is the clearest and most aesthetically appealing panel I've ever seen. Tom

I'm going to second that!

It is most certainly one of the very best homebuilt panels I've ever seen! Great paint job too. I've been silently following along with your build for the most part. As I suspect many others are. So congrats on a fantastic job all round. Like everyone else, can't wait to see your 'Max airborne.

I'm also under a controlled airspace. Military, which for the most part is offline during weekends but can become active without warning. So I'll likely share your instrumentation pain.  

Best wishes for the final furlong. Bring 'er home!

Steve.

Good morning. Just got back from hiking Death Valley! Thank you Alan for fixing the thread! ( mr headbuzz) I believe he had to delete one post! Landed late last night. Off to work and then back to the Minimax! . I have to kick up the exercise, my wife is kicking my butt out there. I tell her it's because she is shorter than me and there is more 02 down there👍😀😉 Notice I brought part of the Minimax with me in  the form of the hat! I  will update the thread in the next day or so. Really hoping to be flying by July! Puff thanks for the heads up on tail heavy. It is a worry, my research leads me to believe the VW version leans toward nose heavy. But I agree I have to be very careful putting things back there! Thank you all for the compliments. I did a lot of mock ups on the panel until I found a configuration I liked! Not a lot of room there😀 The build continues!

One more......

Looks like you and and the wife had a great time. You are driven man. Keep up the great work.

I forgot about the VW, so that might offset weight back there.....  Just be sure that during the weight and balance process that something can be moved to where you need it to make up for it...

BTW a good Postal Scale will be needed for accuracy at the tail....

Bathroom type scales work ok for the mains, but I used a shipping scale.

We had a great time, but I brought home a cold. Most likely a gift from someone on the plane! Puff I am lucky enough to have access to real aviation scales from the EAA Chapter I belong to for weight and balance!
Moving slow due to head cold and darn work getting in the way. I finished hinging empennage. Finished install of strobe light and pitot system in vertical fin, varnished everything and covered them! ( not bad with a cold and worked 48 hours this week!) I'll finish stitching  tomorrow and begin to prime!

More