The Onex is Done! Time for champagne!

Here’s a quick walkaround of the finished plane:

Weighing

A required step in applying for airworthiness is calculating weight and balance. Fellow EAA chapter 538 member, Chris Rute, has some precise scales ment for race cars. He was kind enough to bring them over and help me out. Each wheel goes on a separate scale and the main display shows you the weights. It’s was so sensitive that slight breezes would change the numbers. Results:

  • Right Main Gear: 294 lbs
  • Left Main Gear: 294 lbs
  • Tail Wheel: 30 lbs
  • Total Weight: 618 lbs - just 18 lbs more than the plans claim.

Chris Rute

Nose Cowling

Nick’s design called for the top to be solid green. But the compound curves around the nose made is soooo difficult. There’s too much extra material around the bends that the vinyl wrinkles and it’s impossible to get it flat, at least for me. It’s like trying to wrap paper around a ball. After 4 attempts I gave up. Angelique suggested I strategically add some stripes. I played with her idea trying to follow the curves that were already in the design. What I ended up with is a “swoosh” where the black comes around the front and back along the top. Angelique, who is usually very critical of my work, says it’s perfect…. that it “makes the plane”.

My sister Angela would see planes fly low over her house and ask me, “Was that you?” Of course I’ve flown over her house before, but not all sightings were me. She told me that I should put a big Transformers logo on the bottom of my plane so that she’d know it was me. You see, when I was a child, Transformers were my toy of choice, for years! I love the idea of having a transformers plane. So for this plane I did what she suggested. And loyal to the original 1980’s Transformers, planes are Decepticons. I was always a fan of the Constructacon’s green color scheme.

These Decepticon logos took hours to make. I printed out an image, drew a grid on the paper, and translated the points onto a 2’x2’ piece of purple vinyl. Fortunately the logo is all straight lines! The purple was hard to see against the black, so I added a green boarder to make it pop.

Personally, I think the Decepticon logos add at least 5 points on the cool factor. I have my own, real life, Transformer!

Stickers

A while back I reserved my tail number: N321NX, for my OneX. Get it? Anyway, Sticker Mule had sent me a email about their new vinyl lettering service. I figure it could save me some time cutting letters so I bought my tail numbers. And I also got a “Capt. Micah D Martin” sticker for the cockpit just like they do on milatary aircraft. Technically I am a captain, an air charter captain.

Left Rear Front Right, Wing Up Boys

Next Steps

I had hoped to have my airworthiness certificate in hand before the end of the year. Not so. The DAR (FAA representative who inspects experimental aircraft for airworthiness) informed me that I have to fill out forms and applications that the FAA must review first. I’ll submit the forms this week, but since I leave for France this weekend, the inspection will have to wait for next year.

I got a GoPro so I can film my first flights and I will post videos on this blog.