Intro - Why a Waiex

Waiex #169 – N589KD (Reserved)

Standard gear, Corvair power

Follow along on this site as we journal our adventure of building a Waiex Aircraft. We are building from the kit. We are kit building rather that building from scratch since this is our first foray into building, and I want to be sure we can complete it.

We are building the Waiex, which is a Y-tail Sonex. Sonex calls it a “Y tail” due to the small vertical rudder surface below the “V”, which seems to eliminate all the bad handling characteristics of ‘traditional’ V-tail designs.

We will be building it as a conventional gear. Also we are opting for the Corvair engine. I came to that choice after first thinking I was going to use the 85HP AreroVee, then the 100HP AeroVee Turbo. I am currently building a 3.0L, 115/120HP Corvair engine. A lot of research, and a lot of soul-searching went into that final decision. It was not an easy decision, as Corvair is most definitely NOT an approved (not supported is not strong enough language) by the Sonex factory. Essentially I am on my own and the factory will not consider it a Sonex. Hence the reason for many who have taken this route to call their aircraft some derivative of "Cleanex". It is a very strong and smooth engine, but it will be almost 30 pounds over the Sonex factory recommended FWF weight. For me, this has clearly been one of the most difficult and at times heart-wrenching decisions I had to make about this build. But now I am very happy with my choice (as are others who went with Corvair) and can't wait to fly behind it.

I am married to Darlene and we have two daughters. I was a hang glider pilot for 25 years. Now I’m a sailplane pilot. Michelle, my younger daughter, is a private pilot – glider, working on her commercial and is an A&P for Textron Aviation. The elder, Rachel, is a Commercial Pilot and CFI with a commercial glider rating. She has flown tow planes for the Valley Soaring Club operation – Randall Airport, NY and the Harris Hill Soaring operation – Elmira, NY, and is currently a flight instructor for Flight Safety Academy in Vero Beach, FL building hours and experience for a career in aviation.

Darlene, on the other hand, doesn’t care much for aviation. She will occasionally humor us and go for a glider ride with one of us. To her credit, she did ‘suffer’ through a 3-hour round trip to Block Island in a rented piper with all four of us (she loves the beach).