I'm happy to report Sonex #145, aka VH-MND, flew for the first time on Saturday morning the 7th of November 2015. Below is a link to a little video I've compiled from footage taken on the ground and inside the cockpit:
https://youtu.be/VKGuEdH9Fcs
The aircraft and the engine performed flawlessly. I was very nervous all week in anticipation, but once I was lined up and pushed that throttle forward all my nerves went away and I just got into flying mode.
Other than a bit of a bumpy landing the flight was uneventful, I'm sure I'll get better at landing my girl with a bit more practice. Take-off was quite exciting, I never expected a little VW engine to be able to pull that hard. She climbed like a rocket, at least that's what it felt like. I did not go up very high, mostly stayed between 1500 and 2000 feet, there was some scattered cloud about today which I had to navigate my way around. Off course I stayed within gliding distance of the airport the whole time. Total flight time was about 20 minutes and I enjoyed every second of it, so much so that I did it again next day.