This is how she is going to sit until I can get back to it.

So since I am still at a crossroads as to what engine is going on How about this Idea? I measured back 14" from the front of the fuselage (Eros fuse layout). That actually falls inside the RS8 member. But I want to glue in the RS11 material as shown. That is what the Vmax uses at 18 1/2". I am thinking that if I ever go to a full VW all I have to do is lop off the nose to that point. Is this feasible? Or am I over thinking, over building this?

for the hi max you need to shorten the nose for full vw. just make sure you measure off build line. the measurements are different.if your sides are not put together yet you can lay them on what you built them on and measure again. then you can cut off the extra

This is what I was plying with today. Diagonals in the front extra piece at seatbelt attach and corner flier in rear. Nothing is glued yet. Maybe tomorrow, if not Easter-weekend.

One more

Looking  good; every step ahead and the next thing you know you will be flying.

OK, Back to building after 8 years I guess. Got the full HImax kit. Picked it up at TEAM on Monday. Will start to inventory Friday

So Inventory is done. only missing a few parts. Going really slowly. Moved 10 yds of mulch and 27 tons of #2 river rock. So some days just didn't have the energy to do anything on the plane. Got the rudder pieces cut. trailing edge jig helps a lot. Pictures to follow.

pictures

So family reunion come and gone. Did the elevator in that time. Glue up and clamp leading edges for horizontal leading edges. Got a 3/4 " roundover bit to do the roundover. THe Vertical fin went well, The horizontal stabilizer not so well.  So finished the Vertical fin and cut and installed the hinges. Texted Dave about getting a price and delivery on more RS17-53 to redo the leading edges. Don't have a date ot price yet.
Removed the 6' and 4' steel rules I was using for a reference edge and installed 1/4 round as the reference edge. Started laying out fuselage and even trying to cut the RS10 cabin base, using scrap wood so I don't waste the good wood! Next week is all used up already so it'll be probably 2 weeks before I get back to it

Longerons cut and epoxied. Angles on RS10s cut RS8s cut. Next time available to do work week of Aug 7.

I haven't been idle, just lazy about putting anything on. I have both sides of fuse glued and front ply put on. Had to scarf the RS10 on one side because even though I cut it twice it was still short. It was a bad day. Anyway got all parts for both sides cut and dry fit both alone and on top of each other as per instructions. everything was perfect. side 1 glued together well. Put side 2 together on top dry and it all lined up. took it apart to put plastic sheet and started gluing, I had to hammer some pieces in!  anyway onward. after 2 days removed sides, the bottom tapered part of the 2nd was about less than 1/8" off. so got that planed out. skinned the right side. 2 days later skinned the left side. Drilled 1/4" holes for seat bet attachments. Cleaned up all glue smears and squeeze out with heat gun and scraper. Since I'm not happy with how the pieces shifted during gluing added extra material around seatbelt support. Made the Station 4 bulkhead according to plans. It was ~1/8 inch short. Remade at 19 5/8 height. Friday I'll take all clamps off and check for height. Put center line on bench. Measure for sides. Will make squares to keep sides square during assembly.

rest of pictures

Great progress.
Thanks for posting the pictures.

Why don’t you try a briggs and Straton redrive engine?
It is a cheap and readily available engine.
See:  https://youtu.be/trH2tAC7fpI?feature=shared

In my model I will use a 438cc single cylinder…

My himax is 99% ready…

Quoted from raphael150

My himax is 99% ready…

  very nice build.Looks like it will be a miracle to fly with the 440cc single industrial engine unless some serious upgrades have been done to it as its rated at 18 hp out of the box.even if upgrades enhance the power by 50% then only 26-27 hp will be available.will that be enough to fly the Himax ?

Quoted from mullacharjak

  very nice build.Looks like it will be a miracle to fly with the 440cc single industrial engine unless some serious upgrades have been done to it as its rated at 18 hp out of the box.even if upgrades enhance the power by 50% then only 26-27 hp will be available.will that be enough to fly the Himax ?

The engine manufacturer says it puts out 40hp with all the changes, and belt redrive. At 6300 top rpm, a re-drive of 2.5/1, and a 61x28” propeller it delivers from 90 to 100kg of static thrust at sea level: I just need a 70kg of thrust to fly considering my Himax empty weight will be 130kg, my weight is 63kg, and the fuel is 17kg. Thump air is producing a similar engine. Watch the videos…

https://youtu.be/swBVXPkzWUo?feature=shared

https://youtu.be/Vx8EWA4SomA?feature=shared

I would be a bit sceptical that a 440cc 4-stroke puts out 40 hp. Normal figures are 100hp/litre for 2-stroke, and 50hp/litre for a 4-stroke.

Of course there are engines tuned to improve on these figures, but its usually at the expense of longevity and/or very high revs.

If the engine you've found does produce 40 or so hp there'll be a lot of homebuilders using it.

Just a quick update. Having a hell of a time trying to get photos loaded. Today put the Plywood on the longerons and installed the diagonals. The nose is pulled in, and bottom skin on. by the end of the week I want to have pulled the fuse off the table and be working on the top of the fuselage