Progress

 

Statistics
Project Start Date - December 15, 2003
Percent Complete - xx% as of 06/19/2010 (Unkown hours tot. est.)
Total invested to date - $8700 (yes, including engine)
Total time to date - 1900 hours
"One day it will fly!  Probably a Thursday..." - Matt Elder

06/11/2010 Latest Build Pics
As promised, here is the latest and greatest shot of what I've been working on...
Last Updated on Monday, 14 May 2012 16:22
 

Update - May 14, 2012

I have spent the last 7 months completing a slow/light rag and tube aircraft so that I would have something to fly.  This occupied all of the free time I had, so the ME-1XL has been neglected.

The details of the plane I just finished are here...

Now that it's officially an airplane, I'm back working on the ME-1XL.  I just removed the engine from the airplane in order to change a couple of parts out that I had made (new aluminum oil pan, push rod tubes, etc... ) and got that finished up.  Now it's back to the nitty-gritty of finishing up the fuselage and getting ready for paint.

As you look through the site, you may notice that some images don't come up.  I just moved the site location on the server and am still correcting for this in the pages.  I hope to have everything resolved by 5/25/12, but if you happen to find something after this date, please let me know the page it's on!  I'd like to get it fixed.

More details to follow.

 

Last Updated on Monday, 14 May 2012 16:21
 

Update - June 27, 2011

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Wow.  It's been a year since I've posted an update.  A whole year!  I really should stay more on top of things.

A lot of stuff has happened in the past year, both personally and with the plane.  I'm now married, expecting a baby this Christmas, and am looking to sell my house.

On the plane side, I haven't run the engine since the break-in process last August.  It's been eating at me for a while to go out there and crank it up, but it just hasn't happened.... until last weekend that is.  I checked the oil, fueled it up, hit the primer and it started up with the first flip of the prop.  Amazing.  Gotta love them 'vairs.

Some stuff has been updated on the airframe too, though I'm ashamed to say that I haven't put the time in that it needed.  I only spent about 100 hours on it since last August, so not a lot of stuff is visibly done.  I did manage to finally complete ALL of the wiring and also built a NEW (yea, another one) aft turtledeck that blends the lines of the canopy smoothly into the rest of the fuselage.  I have since designed/made canopy latches and figured out a way to make a push rod controlled tailwheel.  I'll get around to posting all of that up later.

The cool part is that if you look at the project from 10k feet so to speak, I need to do detail work and paint the fuselage, and complete the wings and she's all done.  Those that have built an airplane, especially a KR are probably chuckling right now because they (and I) know that a 10k foot view on something like that is the definition of a farce.  There is a ton of work to do and I don't expect that it will be complete anytime soon.  Alas, I'm working on it again about 5-10 hours a week now so SOMEDAY it will be complete.

More later....

Last Updated on Tuesday, 28 June 2011 03:26
 
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