Thu Mar 6. 1246z ....some
interesting tidbits plucked from the
VAF forums (posting
guidelines)
Robin Marks 'Show us Your In-flight Picture' Entry.
It...is official. RV-7 it is!! ...Jason Hess
After stewing about it for several
years while building the tail and wings...I emailed my order
form for the fuselage today and paid the deposit.
I am building a RV-7 Tip-Up!
Pretty excited and had to share.
More NASCAR Flyover Footage ...Dave B.
Here's how it looked from echo 2
with camera mounted on top of fuselage pointed to the right.
After takeoff I sped up the playback while we drone along
then I actually stopped recording until the 3 large diamonds
starting coming together and kept it on until just after the
"smoke off" call and the 3 big diamonds start to separate.
If you just want to see the run-in, start watching the video
around the 6:50 mark. I purposely didn't add music so the
constant RPM changes can be heard. If you've never flown
formation, it will give you an appreciation for how hard the
pilot is working to hold position.
SB Compliance ...Walt
Finished the repair on my tail today
and started reinstalling it, here are some pics and info...
Final 1% ...Bruce Hill
I'm really running out of things to
do on the project. I had to take out the VP-X unit and have
it repaired. There was a bad voltage regulator in the box
and I wasn't getting any reading on the pitch/roll/flap
servo positions. I got it back today, reinstalled it and
everything now checks out fine. Over the weekend I started
putting on the forward top skin. I was able to solo rivet
all of the center section, but will need to find a helper to
shoot the side rivets. Once that is done the canopy goes
back on. I have a few more engine runs to perform, drain the
fuel and weigh the plane. Then pitot/static/transponder
checks and ready for the DAR inspection! I'm also starting
the transition training on Friday.
Tip- Birds in the Hangar
Get a high-power laser pointer and
start chasing them around with it. It's the opposite of what
happens with cats. Birds do NOT like the laser beam at all,
and if you leave a door partially open so they can get out,
you can chase them toward it and they'll leave. Not only
that, they usually stay gone.
Milestone....engine uncrated (Sid
Mayeux)
RV fly-in March 8th 2014 SE of ATL
(latest - driving dirs) Take 75
south from Atlanta, left for 8.5 miles to center of Jackson
on 16. Turn left on Covington St (36) for 0.6 miles, bear
right on Stark Rd for 3.2 miles, rt on Singley Rd, rt onto
taxiway, tan and green hangar on rt past red and white
hangar
Yesterday....
....from the RV-6. Lake
Grapevine beach. N33°1.33' W97°9.59'
click to enlarge
Image info:
Wed Mar 5. 1247z ....some
interesting tidbits plucked from the
VAF forums (posting
guidelines)
Selfies ...L.D. Jeffries
GoPro Video ...Jim Brown RV-6
Status Update ...Blain
Haven't added to the thread for a
while. Here is an interesting shot; Guess where I'm at?
Meet Team
AeroDynamix...new video published 3/3/14.
From the mothership....
From the mothership...
RV-8 Owner Tommy Williams doing
'other stuff'
Tommy keeps his RV-8 about 200' from
my RV-6. Good guy, and gets laughs at lunch.
click to enlarge
Chris Fahey photo (from a P-40).
(from Tommy) Here Chris
is leading a flight of five from Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ to
Chino, CA. The flight consists of one P-40, one P-47
and three P-51s. Photo taken Monday. Chris
volunteers at the Planes of Fame Museum in Chino.
Tue Mar 4. 1248z ....some
interesting tidbits plucked from the
VAF forums (posting
guidelines)
Saturday,
before the newest round of cold weather arrived, I took the good
camera out to the airport and enjoyed a little warm weather
while it lasted. Charlie was out, and agreed to dip his wing a
little bit my way after taking off and before getting too far
away. I got the shot below. Modern cameras with their high-speed
burst modes are amazing. 8.5 shots per second means you'll
probably get a keeper (if you have enough space on the memory
card). I shot for 2.35 seconds <g>.
click to enlarge
*shot with Canon
EOS-1D Mark II N body with Canon
EF 70-200mm f/2.8 lens.
First flight- the 4th RV-7 in Norway (and our second build) is
flying! ...ao.frog
RV-8 first flight (sort of)...nzrv8
Sunset Flight...Berchmans
Took off from Merrill Field in
Anchorage just before 6:30 PM for a nice evening flight. The
sun was just setting over the Alaska Range. The mountain to
the left of the setting sun is Mount Redoubt. Visiblity 100
plus miles, Temperature 20 degrees.
Saturday morning flight - breakfast run...tc1234c
Last Saturday morning the 11-ship
Lakes/Super Flight went to X21 at Titusville for breakfast.
We were 11 ships of different models. It includes an RV6 and
an RV-9A. We had the most smooth air I can remember for a
long time.
...
St. Pete...MarkW
Saturday lunch trip from Sanford,
FL. KSFB to St. Pete KSPG as a three ship
Loose nut in the cockpit! Help me idenfity...walkman
Yesterday after flying, including
some mild acro, I found this loose nut lying on the floor in
the cockpit. Operationally everything checks out, heck I
made it home. However I'm a little worried and I'd like to
figure out where it came from. Its possible it could have
been rattling around for years, as I've done the only
inverted flight this airplane has seen in 7 years and I've
been rained on by gravel, wire tie ends, pens, and various
other detritus that builds up over the years.
Does anyone recognize where this might have come from?
More flyover pics...
More flyover pics and movies
How it was laid out ...rvmills
akarmy Progress/Status
RV-10 Progress ...P51Matt
Upcoming Webinars Schedule
fmi:
http://www.eaa.org/webinars/
Mon Mar 3. 1240z ....some
interesting tidbits plucked from the
VAF forums (posting
guidelines)
(50) RVs Over Phoenix NASCAR Race (yesterday).
Gash photo
50-ship RV Flight Over Phoenix NASCAR ...thread
with pics, links and PIREPs.
(from
's
Mom) "The
flyover was beautiful. I don’t know how many planes there were, but
the camera stayed on them longer than usual. They got fore and aft
pictures so good you could see the color of the planes."
Video (Mar 1)
Video
(practice)
Video (Mar 2: Sunday)
dr photo of my TV
Gash PIREP "We had a great time flying together today.
What an awesome group of people! Hats off to everyone who put in all
the time and effort to make this happen. Yesterday's weather was too
rainy to get in a rehearsal, so we got one in this morning followed
by the real deal at 13:02:45 EXACTLY. Bill Gill did a superb job of
leading Speedway Flight, and I'm sure the NASCAR organizers are very
happy with his ability to hit the time over target (TOT) right down
to the nanosecond with 50 airplanes."
Welcome earthX
EarthX,
Inc. is a Colorado based company founded by an electrical and a
mechanical engineer who wanted something better than the hazardous,
heavy, lead acid batteries they had been using and that has been
around for over 170+ years! After years of research and development,
EarthX lithium batteries were developed with a full line of lithium
iron phosphate batteries. Lithium batteries are fundamentally
different than
lead-acid batteries. The lithium cells inside the
12V battery need electronics to monitor and balance the
voltage/charge of the individual cells. Inside every one of our
batteries is a microprocessor Battery Management System (BMS) that
monitors the charge level of each cell and balances the charge when
needed, protecting the cells from overcharge or over-discharge. What
this means for you is more starting power, longer battery life, and
the safest lithium battery on the market.
fmi:
http://earthxmotorsports.com/product-category/experimental-aircraft/
Team Aerodynamix Now Offers Light
Kits for RV's / Becomes Whelen Distributor
[ed. One of the best
formation acts on planet earth, IMHO. dr]
click to enlarge
Calendar Wallpaper for March ...it's our friend in Italy.
How to build your own aeroplane ...Financial Times article.
March Sport Aviation
...with a nice piece on a trailered
RV-12 on pg 86.
First engine start N516RC ...Irmo, SC
From Tina...
Fri Feb 28. 1245z ....some
interesting tidbits plucked from the
VAF forums (posting
guidelines)
Wishing you and yours a
happy, safe and RV-filled weekend!
Landing on snow
Picture of C-GKSZ Van’S RV-8 sn:
81084 (2003). "Planenut" landing on Tapanee frozen
lake during Sainte-Anne-du-Lac (Qc) fourth annual winter
fly-in ;-) Collllllllld! windy day
Jean-Pierre Bonin photo
N819DJ first flight ...Jackm
Special thanks to Mike Seager for
his trust in our work to do first flight. Mike is a
Legend...one guy we all respect and enjoy his style!!
...
(57) Deer in (18) minutes.
...from the RV-6 yesterday in a
near-metropolitan setting (between Dallas and Ft.Worth, TX).
I'd be surprised if I got more than five miles from the
airport. Zoom lenses are a wonderful thing.
View the photo album.
Bahamas ...
MarkW trip writeup
One of the main reasons I built an
airplane is that we are so close to the Bahamas I wanted to
be able to fly there on a regular basis. This is our first
trip in the new plane. A couple of trips in a 172 but this
is the trip that paid off all the hard work.
...
What could you do in one week of flying ...Vlad
Advanced flight systems in N819DJ...Jackm
From Abby at Flightline Interiors...
From Perry in West Kelowna BC Canada
...managed to fly Jan 4th, and Feb
22 this year, so that's better than average. Darndest thing
today, a fire at a fibreglass manufacturing plant has filled
our entire valley with acrid smoke, making it totally IFR,
and you can TASTE it!
Thu Feb 27. 1249z ....some
interesting tidbits plucked from the
VAF forums (posting
guidelines)
First Flights Listed on the Mothership
...9/9A reaches 900 milestone.
RV-12 reaches 300!
Back in the air! ...our friend Brantel
Got back in the air on Saturday for
the first time since January 4th which was 2 days before
surgery... All I did was bore holes in the sky and do
some doughnuts while calibrating the D6 compass. Was a
little behind the airplane but still well within the safety
zone and I made a decent landing!
...
Feb '14 progress ...Strike69
Many pictures...
Pix of the new GRT Horizon Hxr Installation ...jjhoneck
Presenting a short story in 3 pictures instead of 3000 words.
From Danbury-ECi-Titan Aircraft
Engines...
Wed Feb 26. 1248z ....some
interesting tidbits plucked from the
VAF forums (posting
guidelines)
N996S First Flight ...bpattonsoa
(Independence, OR)
After 21.5 months of work, a new
RV-10. Flys like a dream and lands not quite like a -6A.
Thanks to Mike Seager for working with me Sunday to learn
how to land these things. They do take a systematic landing
approach compared to their smaller versions.
...
You think YOUR build space is unique?
Roberto in Mar del Plata, Argentina
lowers his wing 24 feet to the ground.
Early '14 Update ...riseric
RV-8
Flying my RV9A in SoCal - Chino to Laughlin, NV ...pmccoy
video
Uncommon View… ...Ironflight
Rivet spacing conundrum...NorthernRV4
Fuel line support...Veetail88
I have to support the fuel line from
the mechanical pump to the horizontal fuel servo and I
cannot see any good attach points to anchor it to.
...
Are there any (PC) computer folks out
there....
...that
work at a company that can nudge me in the right direction
for a 3-4 monitor setup? Sometime this year I would
like to replace my Gateway desktop with something 'better'.
It was quickly purchased one afternoon when the old Dell
gave up the ghost a few years back.
I have two HP 2511x monitors right
now (replaced the single Dell) that have been wonderful the
past couple of years. My HP laptop, the one that goes
to/from the airport is still rockin the casba - no worries
there. The ultra mobile hardware is an iPhone 5.
Anywho, here are two pics (right) I found on the web of a
three and four screen setup. Believe it or not, when
you get all the VAF authoring stuff, browsers, pic capture
app, email, forums, forums management, server management,
backup utilities, voice to text dictation software and
accounting stuff up and running....you kinda need more
screen acreage then what I got now.
Sidenote, I've been headquartered in the upstairs guest
bedroom these past ten years. Purple walls (previous
owners). My desk is the first table Susie and I bought
after getting married. From Target. $39 I think.
It stays. VAF will always come to you from this table.
2014 is the year we finally paint the walls and replace the
two decade old carpet in 'the office' with fake wood.
I'm excited too!
For grins....the current
setup.
Tue Feb 25. 1255z ....some
interesting tidbits plucked from the
VAF forums (posting
guidelines)
So, the washing machine started throwing up on the floor
yesterday. Turned out to be the fill hose clamp that
failed after a measly 25 years (pic at right). I handed
Tate the busted clamp and dropped him off at the door at Lowes.
"Let's see if you can find a replacement for this. It's
OK to ask for help." Forty six cents bought a fifty
year supply of replacement clamps, installed by Tate using my
Dad's tools. How's that for the 'ol circle of life?
Maybe he'll be maintaining the family RV-6 forty years from now, or at
the very least tearing into his broken washing machine with
PawPaw's SnapOn socket set. Wouldn't that be nice?*
*Who we kidding?
There won't be washing machines in 40 years - you'll push a
button on your phone and a new shirt will just appear.
First Flight ...beav
After 5 years and 2 weeks of
building, I took my RV-7 up for its maiden voyage yesterday.
I completed transition training with Mike Seager on Friday,
so I was well prepared for the flight.
The flight lasted about 30 minutes and was completely uneventful. We
orbited overhead at high power for 10-15 minutes and then
slowed down for some slow flight and stalls. My buddy Greg
flew chase in his Bonanza, and we were able to confirm the
airspeed and altimeter readings are virtually spot on.
videos
Free Dinner ...Berchmans
(Alaska)
It was a CAVU day yesterday
and the wife (Peggy the riveter) and I decided to fly to
Talkeetna for a little dinner at the Twister Creek Brew
House. We had a gift card therefore I view this as a not
cost outing. The RV still drew some visitors even in the
land of turbine otters on skiis...
AeroLEDs new product announcement ...VAF advertiser
AeroLEDs is proud to announce a new
landing/taxi/recognition lighting solution for the Van's RV
wingtip location.
The product is called the Aerosun Vx, and will fit any RV-7
or RV-8 that uses the W-715-1 wingtip that has the 6" long
back face on the lighting cover:
more
Out the shop recently ...
www.upnorthaviation.com
Mon Feb 24. 1248z ....some
interesting tidbits plucked from the
VAF forums (posting
guidelines)
First flight ...9Driver
After two years of sweat and fun,
RV-12 N40RK, s/n 120622 took to the skies this evening for
the first time. My son was at the controls. Approx 40 min
flight. The only issues are slightly heavy right wing, and
rudder trim tab needs to be adjusted more. He said it was a
joy to fly.
Finished ...paul330
I seem to have run out of bits so I
guess she's finished!
As you can probably see, there might be just a
little fiberglass "fettling" left to do...
Yesterday...KRviator
Take off run - first decent day after a while ...Luke in
Italy.
Well I finally did it! ...bhester (painted)
RV White Pages
Updated
...courtesy the lovely and
talented Audrey Reeves (home from college for some of the
weekend). RV contact info for
3,215 builders/pilots . 41 page PDF file
that you can save to your smartphone or tablet and take with
you everywhere.
RV Hotel
List Updated ...courtesy the lovely and talented Duh
Greaves.
SB Complete ...Danny King
I completed my SB repair and test
flew a couple of days ago. The job is not that difficult,
but it did take a little longer than "Just a few Hours". It
took me an hour and five minutes to disassemble the Doll's
empennage. It took me several hours to put it back on!
...
In Flight ...Harvey
(Australia)
In Flight ...Vlad
Full day of flying ...scard
Bird Strike Video ...1min 45sec mark
Fri Feb 21. 1259z ....some
interesting tidbits plucked from the
VAF forums (posting
guidelines)
Happy Birthday Mom
(This Saturday) Some nice
people worked out the NASCAR schedule so it could start back
up on your birthday weekend. Exactly what you wanted
;^).
Thanks for bringing me into this
world. I (and Audrey and Tate) owe you everything.
I love you.
Lots of Pics and Videos of Turbo Flight Sebring ...turbo
Tip- Drilling holes in wheel pants ...Michael
Burbidge
I used glow sticks to help line up
drilling holes in wheel pants with the holes in the brackets
underneath.
...
Welcome
www.AircraftWraps.com
...ad in the Previous Day's News section
RV Cowling Winter Jacket
Another accomplishment by my wife...woodmanrog
I had to brag that my wife, Myra,
passed her IFR check ride on the first try. I guess I'll
always be in the right seat now,
Thu Feb 20. 1247z ....some
interesting tidbits plucked from the
VAF forums (posting
guidelines)
Audrey Reeves makes SMU Honor Roll
(link)
...the 'AR' in N617AR.
Found out last night - could be no
other top story today. Your yearly VAF donation
dollars being used wisely, with heartfelt gratitude from
both Susie and me. Congratulations
Audrey!
fmi: www.smu.edu
Welcome Kevin Spooner RV-6 ...Spoon
in the forums
...Started in approx 1990 (serial
20621) flew first flight in January 2014. O-320 with
Sensenich weighs 1041. Now halfway thru phase 1 and loving
it.
SB kit came in today...bret
Looking at the kit, there is 5.00 in
plate nuts alone and a ton of rivets, and they even through
in a SS plate to protect your skin while trimming, I don't
think they are making any $ on this kit. Just a BIG thanks
to Vans Aircraft for taking proactive and honest actions in
addressing this issue!
8/8A side consoles ...pics
RV-3A SN 10934 About Finished ...dlomheim
Here is a shot of the RV-3A that
I've been restoring for the past 1.5 yrs. When it flies, it
will be some 12+ years since it last did that, so hopefully
it hasn't developed any bad habits in the inter-rim. Alot
has gone into this project to include an engine (O-290G)
tear down, carb overhaul and mag 500 hr. inspection, add
carb intake snout (RV-4) and filter, carb and cabin heat,
redo the electrical per Bob Nuckols ideas, remove and
discard the 8 lb "remote indicating compass", add an old
Garmin GPS and NARCO transponder and encoder, Ray Allen
electric elev. trim, Odessy battery, skybolt fastners on top
of cowling, etc, etc, etc. Also ended up building a new
vertical stab. due to cracks and wallowed out holes in the
old one that had been repaired via stop drilling and
slapping another piece of alumimun over it. Anyway, some
350+ hours of work later, it finally is about good enough to
call an airplane again and it hopefully will be a reliable
platform to start doing some cross-countries in!
Blue Skies,
Doug
Garmin Pilot Adds Synthetic Vision
•Synthetic vision will be featured
as an option for premium iPad and iPhone customers
•When Garmin Pilot is used with a GDL 39 3D, back-up
aircraft attitude information is superimposed overtop the
Garmin Pilot SVX display ◦Traffic information is also
depicted when used with the GDL 39 3D
•When used without a GDL 39 3D, a three-dimensional
topographic landscape is available which also incorporates
GPS-derived airspeed, altitude, and vertical speed
information
•Topography, water features, obstacles, and the runway
environment are available on the SVX page, enhancing
situational awareness
•When an active flight plan is present, a horizontal
situation indicator (HSI) offers course guidance; estimated
time enroute (ETE), distance information, and the active leg
of a flight plan are also displayed below the HSI
fmi:
https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/on-the-go/apps/garmin-pilot-/prod115856.html
Five Deer and Two Turkeys (I think)...
12 minutes in the RV-6 two days ago.
No zoom (to prove I wasn't buzzing them). Upper
right.
That's a turkey at the top...
...I say turkey because this was about thirty yards away.
Wed Feb 19. 1243z ....some
interesting tidbits plucked from the
VAF forums (posting
guidelines)
RV-8 I-LOVI Capt. Marco Ricci ...Italy
This is the story of a project that was born in a
conversation inside the hangar. My friend Marco, owner of
the RV8 told me, "I would like to do a new panel for my
plane, but I can't do it alone, it's quite a few years I
have this idea"
I told him that I could help him out, so the same night I
sent him a CAD Project of a panel, he was very anxious of
the idea so we spent the next 10 nights with teamviewer and
skype spending hours and hours of mutual confrontations.
The first difficult was the space, there's not allot of
space in an RV8 panel so we couldn't underestimate every
aspect! front obstructions, back obstructions and
composition of the instruments. after so many tries we had
the final draft, so the next step was the cutting of the
panel.
more
Quick Facts at 1000 hours ...Vlad
My tach turned 1K hours on 2-16-2014. Hobbs time was
more, counted by a Russian Bear clock. Approximately 2 %
more. The difference was mainly because of two dissimilar
counting systems. Tachometer is cable driven and Hobbs is of
a spring winding variety. <g>
more
6th annual ice cream social ...March 15th (Inyokern, CA)
Well it is that time of the year again. I turn one year
older. The 6th annual ice cream social will be held at
Inyokern, CA airport on March 15th from 1100-1400. It will
be held in the area next to the airport office. The red
circle on the picture below indicates the area.
...
It Smokes!! ...Dayton Murdock
Here's the first video of my -4 smoking.
more
From Cleaveland Tool...
"On 2/20 at 7:30 CDT, Cleaveland Tool is going to show
some tips and tricks on how to use simple tools to get great
results. You may still want to have the fancy tools as they
certainly make the job easier, but we appreciate that many
folks are building on a shoestring, and quality is
achievable for everyone with a variety of tools.
Check out the Google Hangout on 2/20:
http://bit.ly/CAThangoutFEB
If you're looking for archived hangouts, check out our
YouTube channel:
http://www.YouTube.com/clevtool
RV Haikus
Oh no, too bumpy!
The wife grabs for the barf bag.
We are landing now.
Less is More
Hangar office project at theVanCave.
Rack/stairs replaced with hammock that hangs on wall when
not in use. Two additional shelves identical to desk
added. Subject to 100% change...
Tue Feb 18. 1244z ....some
interesting tidbits plucked from the
VAF forums (posting
guidelines)
John Goodloe working smart (not hard).
Conditional inspection underway. Seen at theVanCave
this past weekend. Old office furniture getting a
second lease on life...
Alton Bay NH Winter Carnival ...Vlad
Fierce February here in the North East. Winter storms
rolling one after another. Snow and snow and more snow every
week. Flying conditions are very unique but there is some GA
activity even during this harsh winter. Couple stoic RVators
decided to go to Alton Bay B18 for their annual Winter
Carnival. I had another plan and was about to launch in
opposite direction to VA but somebody persuaded me to go his
way. <g>
...
Lake Havasu Formation Clinic 2014 video link...George
Ford email.
Here’s a clip of our RV fun and a 20 ship RV formation
that happened a week ago down in Lake Havasu.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fst6xtWZksQ
Polished Hangar Floor Underway
Clayton hired my son Tate (background) this past Saturday
to drive a scrubber fitted with grinding pads in his hangar.
Five hours and forty one minutes by Tate's watch <g>.
He turned the money earned into skateboard parts less than
twelve hours later. He's thirteen...(I'd have done the
same).
Developing...
Status: 'BigD' RV-10
Starting to Lose that Canoe Look. Cabin top fit and
drilled. So far not as bad as feared, but the
fill/sand/repeat hasn't begun. And there are a couple of
places that will need help...
My RV is too flippin' fast!
Apparently some guy writing code in the fraud prevention
department of Citibank decided "there's no way someone will
do $100-plus charges for fuel 100 miles apart in less than
an hour."
Took my daughter back to school yesterday, 8 hours round
trip. Fueled just fine in North Carolina and Florida, but
got denied at the pump for the top off back home.
A conversation with the night shift customer service rep was
less than productive.
__________________
Mike See
Mon Feb 17. 1248z ....some
interesting tidbits plucked from the
VAF forums (posting
guidelines)
Valentine's Day Flights...tc1234c
Since last Summer every Friday evening from one hour
before sunset we have a party and formation fly by in our
community. Tonight we had two RV8s flew above Daytona Class
C airspace to draw a heart. Down below four rockets, four
RV7s, two SX300s, and a flight of 8 consisting Great Lake,
Cessna 140, Turbine Maule, Grumman Lynx, Jabiru, RV9A, RV9,
and Dova Skylark did our formation passes. It was a
beautiful day after many bad weather days.
...
Add another 9A ...RV9A
Bill
Sunday feb 16 N789BT flew for the first time. Handles
like an RV. Couple of electronic issues to address. Based
Lubbock international, which always sounds pretentious to
me.
RV-10 First Flight in Melbourne, Australia (details)
...AMac
...I haven't experienced rates of climb from any
aircraft that I've flown previous to match this! ...
Lake Michigan Ice Flight...Paul
K
Safety Glasses vs. Face Shield ...longranger
I've always used wrap around safety glasses when running
the cutoff wheel. Tonight while trimming the longerons, I
found that glasses, even the wrap around type, aren't
adequate eye protection for the task. Evidently the glasses
had slid down my nose slightly and either a piece of
abrasive or aluminum dust found its way into my left eye. I
was hoping the massive amount of tearing would flush out
what ever it was and relieve the irritation, but it was not
to be.
Another half hour of flushing with saline and direct spray
in the shower with no improvement convinced me it was time
to head for what passes for an emergency room here. Two
hours later I was diagnosed with a corneal abrasion. The
good news is that the doctor saw no remaining foreign
objects in my eye, and it should heal in a day or so.
The anesthetic only lasted an hour, and the doctor warned me
not to use it more often than I absolutely have to, so I
currently am not a happy camper...
Bottom line: FROM NOW ON I WILL ALWAYS WEAR A FACE SHIELD
WHEN RUNNING A CUTOFF OR ABRASIVE WHEEL!
Houston Bulder Gathering ...flytoday
RV fly-in March 8th 2014 SE of ATL...brianwallis
Catered, donations accepted for food. 62GA Seven Lakes
(not GA62) 122.9 land to the North, takeoff to the South.
Parking at north end of strip. Just shy of 3k grass. 4 miles
west of base of Lake Jackson. South of Covington and halfway
between ATL and Macon. Will have transportation to town if
anything needed. Family friendly. Bring your own dish for
judging. 10am till it ends... private field. Raffle with
prizes. PM ME PLEASE TO RSVP
Will try and have some version of redneck Olympics for a
contest. COMSINK gave approval, race in the works, stay
tuned. (Bikini contest terminated by COMSINK) Race details,
it will be a timed event. Stopwatch starts, plot route
(short) to secret destination, estimate time, fly and
recover. Stopwatch stops when wheels stop turning.
(Destination known at this time, photo required of certain
object) Winners shall be based on how close the planned time
is to the actual time.
Got Canopy ...scard
Another reason to have new eyes look during Condition Inspection
...Flying
again!
Just finished the condition inspection on my RV-10 and
saw again the value of having different eyes looking at the
plane.
I bought the -10 Aug 2011 and this is the 3rd condition
inspection. This year I decided to have another A&P look at
it after having another A&P do the first 2.
When David was looking at the tail he found that there were
9 rivets missing from both the top and bottom of flanges
HS-1002 and HS-1013! these were match drilled and dimpled
but the original builder neglected step 2 on page 8-6 of the
plans which tells you to install 9 rivets on the top and 9
on the bottom! This is easy to see once the fairing at the
base of the rudder is removed. Tail came off, rivets
installed and put back together.
This was in plain sight and was missed during the original
airworthiness inspection in 2005, the subsequent annual
condition inspections, the week long very thorough
airworthiness inspection in Canada when it was sold there,
and by the DAR here when I re-imported it in 2011 and had to
have another airworthiness inspection. At least 16
inspections and it was not caught until now! I can't believe
I missed it too!
Just wanted to show how things can be missed and a new set
of eyes can be very beneficial.
Fri Feb 14. 1254z ....some
interesting tidbits plucked from the
VAF forums (posting
guidelines)
Twelve minutes off the surface yesterday and
too many deer to count - stopped at twenty. iPhone pic
right caught (15) in one image - click it. Twelve minutes
well spent! I gotta remember to take the good
camera
in the plane. Landed and then did the photoshoot for Grady
at GLO (below). What a beautiful paint job.
Related....Danny, I found you
a motorcycle to match yours and this plane. You're
welcome.
On to music: Listening to Ryan Adams 'Cold Roses' on the
drive home on alt radio, poked around online later
to
find it. Been too long since I've heard that, and I'd
forgotten how good it was. Found like every song he's
written
here. Amazing what you get now with ten seconds of
typing. Is that good? Well,
here's
a live version wearing Ace Frehley boots. That's good.
All over the map today....but hey, Friday.
Wishing you and yours a happy, safe and RV-filled weekend. I hope
our friends in the snow and ice are safe and sound.
View the photo album / related:
glocustom.com
Rob 'Smokey' Ray in his RV-'X' Post SB Shakedown Flight
...3min 48sec video to enjoy instead of working!
Daughter's V-Day Card
Charity Cap Sighting ...Lanikai, Oahu (Joe Walker)
Charity caps?
When hobbies get in the way of each other - What can I work on
now?
Wishing Aaron a speedy recovery (brewing accident).
Houston Area Monthly RV Builders Lunch - February 2014
The third Saturday (February 15th) is upon us, so lets
get together for lunch at our monthly RV luncheon. This
Saturday we will meet at Carl's BBQ for some good BBQ.
Nothing will get you more motivated to finish your plane
than our RV get together and some good Texas BBQ. Carl's is
located at Weiser Airpark on HWY 290 frontage road between
Telge and Huffmeister in the NW part of Houston. We meet at
11:30 am.
Reading VAF in Bed, or Other Low Light Conditions?
Tip: Try setting your phone on 'Invert'. For
iPhone and iPad, go into Settings > General > Accessibility
> Invert Colors. A shortcut is to scroll down to the
bottom of that screen and choose 'Accessibility Shortcut',
and assign 'Invert' to triple-clicking the Home button.
Thu Feb 13. 1254z ....some
interesting tidbits plucked from the
VAF forums (posting
guidelines)
Hoping my RV friends in the path of the ice/snow storm rolling
up the east coast are doing OK.
David Morrow sent me some SketchUp ideas to get me started with my hangar
office project, and that motivated me to spent some time
yesterday re-learning some of the software. Thank you,
David! The nudge I needed. I think I can pull this
off, design-wise.
What I came up with below. Efficient, within budget, leaves as much
of the fake wood floor visible as possible and will cost pennies
to keep cool/warm. Will all this happen? I dunno.
But man, an office like this would make work almost fun!
Sleeps one (me).
Seats (3) comfortably. WiFi. A/C and heat.
RV-6 twenty feet away...
24 Gallons of Avgas ...update on our friend Brantel
...I am 5 weeks out as of this past Monday. All pain is
gone, all incisions are healed. Starting into my exercise
regimen...
Flapper Valve ...David Paule RV-3B
Bob Collins Paint Scheme Renderings
...I've incorporated many of the changes suggested by
people
...
From the factory....
(Video) Garmin Virb down Hudson Corridor, NYC
RV-10 Status ...Dave
Wyzepilot
So I managed to complete the first "test" with only a few
small bruises on the skin. That middle nose rib was kind of
a pain to get to but a little "puddy and paint will make it
what it a'int". I am very pleased with the final product and
look forward to moving on to the the rudder. Thanks for all
of your help so far. I'm sure I will call on all of you
again as I move on in my build.
Well I was told it will be an emotional roller coaster and I
would have to agree. I found myself going from Fun to
Frustration to fear then back to fun on more than one
occasion. All and all it was a great experience. I learned
so much and most importantly I built an air worthy Vertical
Stabilizer <g>.
Wed Feb 12. 1258z ....some
interesting tidbits plucked from the
VAF forums (posting
guidelines)
So, it's in the 20's outside and I'm playing
with ideas for the hangar office - stuff to do on a budget when
you can't go outside. After eight months or so, the walls
are painted (white, but could change) and the fake wood floor
looks kind of like
this.
It's tiny. Around 55 sq. ft. Elevated with the
windows facing out into the hangar. RV stuff in view.
I've been looking
at pics of 'tiny home' interiors on Google for pointers.
For cripes sake, look at
this one! And
this. Amazing. All those decades in a cube
fostered a Stockholm syndrome of sorts. Must have small,
efficient office. No waste.
I'd like to maybe have a nap-i-loo after lunch every now and then, so
something to lay down on. A work surface for my HP laptop
looking out into the hangar, and a couple chairs for guests?
Bookshelves? TV? Jello wrestling tub?
Alas, I'm not the creative type. If any of you folks (or spouses)
have mad interior decoration skilz with access to modeling
software, and want to use the Van Cave office as an example of
what you can do, I'll let you. Like nobody's business.
I have a copy of Google SketchUp, but the free version stops working in 7
more hours of use, and well, you know, pilots have this thrifty
streak. Mostly I just don't know how to do this stuff, and
I figure since folks might stop by for a visit someday, might as
well try to keep it from looking like the set from Sanford &
Son.
Dimensions clickable at right for your amusement (done in Photoshop), and
feel free to ignore all this.
Rambling thoughts on a yucky day. And good morning...
from a few months back. moving the a/c up above the
windows soon.
Harare, Zimbabwe ...Ed Fleming RV-7 Z-EDD Begins
Hi Everyone!
The journey begins for me, but in a uniquely frustrating
way! A small delay to the ship meant that the kit got caught
up in the Christmas traffic, and then the complete shutdown
of almost all industry and transport that paralyses Southern
Africa every January. I had arranged vacation so I could get
started, but in the end I had to leave on a three week trip
just 4 days before it arrived. So the pictures here were
taken by my wife, and are still all I have seen of it. But
its time to start getting excited again as I'm starting on
the way home and should be cracking open the crates on
Friday!
There is of course a silver lining to this delay. If it had
arrived on time I might just have finished the HS by now,
and then face having to rebuild it to comply with the SB!
Anyway, here are the photos of the arrival and unloading,
African style! Never any shortage of labour to carry heavy
stuff around here <grin>.
related:
Where is Harare?
Frustration Ensues ...JDBoston
Continuing my tail for the 9A for now, but running into
what I would call beginner issues.
Has anyone else run into frustration with bucking (or
squeezing) the rivets on the powder coat brackets on the VS
pieces (I assume it will be the same on the HS)? I end up
with bent over rivets as if they were too long to begin with
or perhaps my technique is poor.
I am using a pneumatic squeezer, but for the rivets in the
center of the bracket closest to the bend I use the gun with
a tungsten bar. On the builder sites I don't typically see
these called out as problematic but they seem to
consistently dump on me. I have seen others call out
problems with rivet lengths that are too long but I assumed
the plans would have been corrected by now. If I ever have
the means to switch over to the 14 I wonder if they fixed
those issues as many of these tail parts are the same.
I am venting a bit perhaps I need to just practice my
riveting more to get more consistent results.
Nose
Gear Bolt Break Update ....pics
Q:
Polish the RV-12 landing gear?
A: No. "Polishing the main gear legs
on an RV-12 is not advisable. The polishing process would
cause material removal from the surface of gear leg. These
legs are heat treated aluminum and shot peened (hardened)
for fatigue resistance. Any modification like this may cause
an untested and/or a weakened condition in the gear leg.
Read more about the process here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shot_peening"
Vladsky
That's the view of Freehold airport and adjacent Mohawk
River on Feb, 2014. Not even a single Polar Bear down there.
Tue Feb 11. 1247z ....some
interesting tidbits plucked from the
VAF forums (posting
guidelines)
The making of
the world's most famous photo. Mike S. fwd'd me the
link. Amazing, and something to distract from the freezing
rain today here in N.TX. Yuck. Hope better in your
neck of the woods.
PS: Audrey scored a 91 on her Bio exam Monday.
RV-10 In Australia About to Take to the Sky ...AMac
VH-BUY received her Special Certificate of Airworthiness
today! Seven years of work will see her take to the sky this
weekend for phase 1 testing.
Airworthy! ...beav
After 5 years of building (almost to the day), I received
my airworthiness certificate on Saturday. No issues were
found during the inspection (though it wasn't incredibly
thorough).
I'm heading up to Oregon next week to train with Mike Seager
and should take it up for the first flight within two weeks!
Sebring Sneak Attack ...GLPalinkas
OK, it's not Sebring Weds RV Breakfast.... however,
A good friend of mine, Greg Vine's birthday is today (the
number isn't important... but it's 59
)
Greg is a former Mooney owner and pilot who hasn't flown in
a looong time so I thought maybe a little RV magic would
motivate him.
I decided a birthday breakfast recon trip to Sebring on a
Monday was warranted. I rang up the usual suspects. They
obliged and the rest is history.
Easy Time-Lapse Video ...chris
in WI
My family got me a Brinno time lapse camera for Christmas
that I've been experimenting with to document my build.
It's a piece of cake to use - set it, forget it, upload the
fully-processed video to your computer. . I'm still
tinkering with which combination of pre-set capture &
playback framerates is best. Biggest benefit: saves me
time while proving I'm actually building this thing!
A Milestone of Sorts ...longranger
Somewhere under the cockpit floor the 10,000th rivet
installed in the project so far is helping hold the center
fuselage bottom skin to a seat rib. You say counting rivets
is anal? I say NO; knowing exactly which one it is would be
anal...
Some Interior Shots Showing What The Flightline Interior Kit
Looks Like...Tony_T
Video of Sporty's sweepstakes RV-12 ...Jzimmerman
On 2/20 at 7:30 CDT, Cleaveland Tool ...
...is
going to show some tips and tricks on how to use simple
tools to get great results. You may still want to have the
fancy tools as they certainly make the job easier, but we
appreciate that many folks are building on a shoestring, and
quality is achievable for everyone with a variety of tools.
Check out the Google Hangout on 2/20:
http://bit.ly/CAThangoutFEB
If you're looking for archived hangouts, check out our
YouTube channel:
http://www.YouTube.com/clevtool
Tina's Pilot Shop Valentine Specials
817-490-0046 MON-SAT 9A-5P CST
WWW.TINASPILOTSHOP.COM
Tagged ...Rob Hatwell
Last year with a couple of hours to kill in Schiphol
airport In Holland I wandered into the gadget shop and left
a bit of graffiti on the demo tablet.
Rob 'smokyray'
Ray's Plate from 98-99
Hello World ...berck
(Divide, Colorado)
Hello
from the newest RV-10 builders. A friend and I have ordered
an RV-10 tail kit which arrives tomorrow, but the paperwork
got here today, so it seemed time to say hi, and I know
everyone wants to know what the latest number is...1535.
Looks like most questions have been asked already, and I've
probably read a hundred posts just trying to decide which
tools to buy.
We're handy with tools, but have pretty much no experience
with aircraft construction or sheet metal, so we're starting
with both practice projects this weekend.
Thanks for all the help so far, and I'm sure you'll be
hearing from us.
Bridge from the RV ...Vlad
Tappan Zee Bridge, NY. This is the old bridge
construction of a new colossal structure is about to
begin...
Status ...akarmy
Wrapping up the basic fuselage riveting. Starting the
Canoe stage I guess you would call it!
Mon Feb 10. 1259z ....some
interesting tidbits plucked from the
VAF forums (posting
guidelines)
SMU
men's basketball. My daughter's college. Ranked
(almost certainly) for the first time since 1985 as of today.
Beat #7 Cincinnati Saturday, and it wasn't even close.
Audrey didn't watch a second of it - spent the evening on our
couch studying for a bio test she has today. Not
interested at all - same as me at that age. Susie and I
sure watched it, though <g>. Once the doormat of college
basketball,
now transforming into something wonderful.
Something to do when it's too cold to fly the RV.
From ESPN: "SMU improved to 13-0 at home this season and the
Mustangs are beating teams by an average of 21.2 points per game
in their 13 home games. Before this season, SMU hadn't won
against a ranked opponent since 2003. This season, in the first
4 games against ranked teams since Larry Brown became the SMU
head coach, the Mustangs have won 3 of those 4 games, including
their first win against a top-10 opponent since 1987. The
Mustangs have 3 wins against ranked teams in the same season for
the first time in 29 years."
Thanks for letting me brag on my kid's school. Hope you had a
great weekend.
First flight of N987J ...BJohnson
Hello Seattle ...Stephen pics from his RV-7
The
RV is already showing me a great time! ...DougJ
A Wee bit Nippy! ...PeteHowell
Florida Seafood Festival ...MarkW
Failure of Nose Gear ...flytoday
AX-O Status Update ...many pics
Danbury/ECi Launches Titan Aircraft Engines
(Kevin 'Relentless' Eldredge)
"I have accepted the leadership position at Danbury Aero (ECI), to
lead their newest company, "Titan Aircraft Engines" in San
Antonio, Texas. We will focus on building & overhauling
experimental aircraft engines for the experimental and LSA
market.
I love huge challenges and building dynamic teams. Work never seems
like work when you're serving customers in an industry you
are passionate about.
Stay tuned..."
Cap Sighting ...Joe Blank in snowy Oregon
"What else are you gonna do with 7" of snow? Tricia and
I decided to put it to good use...!"
fmi:
The cap
Fri Feb 7. 1252z ....some
interesting tidbits plucked from the
VAF forums (posting
guidelines)
Wishing you and yours a happy, safe and
RV-filled weekend.
Caulking Gun Gets a New Use ...Ivan Luke
Here's my take on the syringe v. Semco question. I bought
veterinary syringes, drilled the hole out larger,
"hot-glued" a short piece of plastic tube in as a nozzle and
then put the whole thing in my generic caulking gun. I did
this because I found the syringe itself too hard to squeeze
by hand. Of course in retrospect, that's probably because my
proseal was cold. I'm in New England and heat the garage
while working but I never thought to take the proseal inside
to warm up-- probably would have been better, but using the
caulking gun worked just fine too.
From the factory...
NTSB Infomation regarding recent Service Bulletins
Important Service
Information:
SB 14-01-31
Hoizontal Stabilizer Cracks
SB 14-02-03 Superseded by
SB 14-02-05...Why?
fmi:
http://www.vansaircraft.com/pdf/sb14-02-05.pdf
Cracks in Elevator Spar
Service Bulletin Parts
Panel Upgrade ...Al Girard
Bought a ram mount today for the Mini...
Scheduled Site Maintenance 2/8 11pm CT - 2/9 6am CT
Our regularly scheduled maintenance window will be used
to install critical patches to servers on the network, in
order to keep your data safe and improve the reliability of
your experience. Readers will experience intermittent
service accessibility during this window.
Is This OK for Support During Repairs?
I utilized my 2 post car lift and tried to make a couple
of support cradles...seems to work fine but I don't want to
put too much stress on belly and cause any damage. I
plan to build a wood frame at some point and place on some
castors for mobility...but can at least get started removing
engine mount now...and it will sure make for an easy belly
cleaning!!!
I would really appreciate comments/feedback constructive
criticism on my supports.
Welcome www.TiWings.com
...new advertiser in the Previous Day's News section.
(from
Travis - owner) "If you’ve ever daydreamed about using
some specialty hardware in your RV, TiWings can help.
TiWings.com specializes in Grade 5 Titanium
(titanium-aluminum-vanadium alloy) fasteners that are
stronger than AN series fasteners, but are about half the
weight and just as corrosion-resistant as stainless steel.
They have a wide selection of AN replacement, Standard, and
Metric sizes.
Very excited to be a part of the community!
Happy landings,
Travis
http://earth.nullschool.net
Yeah, it's cold (yesterday). I clicked on the 'Surface
Wind' and 'Temperature' overlays (click the word
'earth). Might as well play around on this site.
I mean, it's not like I'm going outside for any length of
time.
compared with the South Pole at the same
time...
Thu Feb 6. 1237z ....some
interesting tidbits plucked from the
VAF forums (posting
guidelines)
This isn't RV-related, but I just have to say how much
I like the site www.ifixit.com.
The step by step iPhone5 battery and lightning charging port
replacement was just amazing. Internet and the free market
at its best. Phone mo better! Up yours, toilet!
You don't win this round!
Gary Bacon's Panel ...heavily influenced by
Brantel's example
click to enlarge
Check your Nuts! ...polishpilot
I was able to get my wings installed with the help of 3
fellow RV friends on Jan. 29; but not without a funny
incident. I had trouble attempting to get a nut attached on
one of the close tolerance bolts. Anyone who has been there
know how difficult it can be even getting into a position to
get these nuts on. I literally took about a half hour
struggling with the nylok nut. And then, out of the blue, I
decided to check and see if the threads were damaged. They
were not; in fact, they were not even there!! You got it.
nut never finished the machining process----no threads.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWGi_HL8eUw ...posted Jan 30, 2014.
February is
Online
Wed Feb 5. 1242z ....some
interesting tidbits plucked from the
VAF forums (posting
guidelines)
RV-8 Tom Powers #83300
Wow its been a while since my last
update and today was a big day because I was able to move to
the airport. I was running out of room in the garage and was
able to get a hanger. Still have lots to do but will now
have have room to do it in. From my last post I was
able to finish the panel and get every thing wired and up
and running, I installed the engine/Prop, ran all the engine
control cables, started the engine baffles and got the
engine cowling fitted.
RV-12
Milestone 600 hours 2-3-14 ...John Bender
It has been a very cold and windy winter in Iowa. Got 2nd tank mod & vent
done, and able to fly again. Smooth, but temps were not too bad. About 18F
on the ground.
...
Tsam gets the Angles…
Last Oshkosh we got a deal from a
fellow builder on a new-in-the-box AFS AoA Pro system.
Having flown the system in the RV-8 for a year or more, both
Louise and I have grown to really like the added insight
into the lift margin that you get, and decided that having
it in the RV-3 would be a big plus.
...
RV7A
rudder penetration for tail light ...Bob Collins
In addition to allowing me the opportunity to move up my annual
inspection date to typical "no fly" months, the recent service bulletin and
subsequent removal of the tail has given me the opportunity to correct some
wrongs when I built.
On my RV7A I didn't want to drill through both the tie down bracket and
rudder spar to run the wires for the tail light and strobe. So I had to
cockeye it off to one side.
...
Service Bulletins and Such
They are part of the engineering
process, and will help keep you safe. And I drove a Ford Pinto
once...I know what I'm talking about!
'Right. Learn it. Know it.
Live it.' -
quote referencee
Bookmark this:
http://www.vansaircraft.com/public/service.htm
related:
Link to SB parts
Mounting
a Tablet to the Panel ...Joe Dubner
That sounds like what I did: single Dynon 10-inch SkyView and a 7-inch
Android tablet on the right side of the panel with a gimbal mount.
It would look a lot better if my homemade fiberglass tablet holder was
painted gray instead of white :-)
New openings at CubCrafters
[ed. Posted for my friend Randy
Lervold. dr]
Tue Feb 4. 1254z ....some
interesting tidbits plucked from the
VAF forums (posting
guidelines)
Sorry for the
abbreviated edition today. Felt a bit under the weather
yesterday and spent most of the afternoon and evening in bed.
Below are the biggies....
Important Service Information:
SB 14-01-31 RV-6/6A,
RV-7/7A, RV-8/8A
Horizontal Stabilizer
Cracks
discussion
Important Service Information:
SB 14-02-03 All RV-3,
4, 6/6A, 7/7A, 8/8A Flying aircraft
Cracks in Elevator Spar
discussion
Related to the new SB's...a
free magnifying glass app for your iPhone
Lets you zoom in under
light, and take a picture. Google 'em...they're there
for all brands.
Mon Feb 3. 1300z ....some
interesting tidbits plucked from the
VAF forums (posting
guidelines)
Snoozer on the Super Bowl - no fun when they aren't
remotely close. Congrats Seahawks and fans. The sixty
seconds the Red Hot Chili Peppers had the stage at halftime was the high
point for me. That and the Go Daddy puppet commercial - 'Chow
Baby!' (link).
So long football and hurry up Formula 1 (green flag drops in 41 days).
And hurry up spring. Winter, you suck.
Hope you had a nice weekend.
Giving Chase ...Brent
Fri Jan 31. 1238z ....some
interesting tidbits plucked from the
VAF forums (posting
guidelines)
Wishing you and yours a happy, safe and
RV-filled weekend!
Summer of Opportunities - Teen Flight Students Justin & Paige
...factory FB page
Justin:
If I was only able to use one word to describe the
opportunities and adventures I had this past summer, it
would have to be, incredible. The fact that I had none of it
planned ahead of time is even more amazing. And as I look
back on it, I cannot help but realize how much I have been
blessed.
Paige:
I agree. Sometimes you are so busy just doing all the things
that you enjoy, you don’t seem to find the time to plan
ahead. Often opportunities just seem to find you.
...
Poor Man's Panel Upgrade ...Ken Harrill
It's hard to beat the "bang for the buck" that you get by
adding a couple of iPads to a 12 year old RV-6!!!
http://flightaware.com/live/flight/BOE12
Something about a football game this weekend. Insert
TX A&M alums rolling eyes...
Well, I'm going to assume that these wing skins are now toast
So we made the big move from Atlanta to Houston two
weekends ago. Spent Saturday loading the truck in ATL. At
the very back of the truck, our two motorcycles went in and
were tied down. The main wing skins were wrapped in moving
pads and placed between the bikes along with some other
similarly-shaped items. The leading edge skins were also
wrapped in moving pads and placed to the right of J's bike,
between it and the air compressor and tool chest. Everything
seemed just fine for the drive.
...
Thu Jan 30. 1242z ....some
interesting tidbits plucked from the
VAF forums (posting
guidelines)
A paint job for N614EF
A Few Pictures From the 1st Annual VAF Ski Trip
Roy Thoma Panel
Page one, step one ...Jon in Richmond Hill, GA
So, what to do when you live in the SE and don't have to
go to work because of the crazy weather? Start your build of
course... I had to get a pic of the very first part of my
plane. My only hope is that years from now when I actually
have a plane in front of me, I'll look back with fond
memories - good times outweighing the bad during this
adventure. Now, to repeat tonight about 900 more times.
;^)
Help please for repair tips / jig
...rolled thru a ditch at the end of a grass strip...
January is online...
Stall turn practice
Sent from Jenny at NationAir (VAF advertiser)
Wed Jan 29. 1257z ....some
interesting tidbits plucked from the
VAF forums (posting
guidelines)
Out of phase one! ...Damon Wack RV-7
Let the rides begin!
Ron's carburetor heat setup.
I installed a Robbins Wings carb heat muff on my -8. It
gives a good RPM drop during run-up (~50rpm) and a steadily
increasing carb temperature... I haven't waited for the carb
temperature to max out but I'm sure it's a lot better than
the Van's design... I also blocked the sides of the inlet
flange with pieces of aluminum angle so that all the air
passes through the heat muff. The 2" scat seems to be
sufficient air for my O-375 though I haven't tried it yet in
flight.... Another thing to test, only 7 hours so far... I
figure I could always use partial carb heat or open the FAB
bypass a bit for warmer air if I notice a problem with air
volume...
more pictures
1st annual Van's Air Force Ski Trip
The first annual RV ski trip is now history. It was truly
delightful with sunshine and mild temps the entire week. All
4 of us returned with no broken bones and great memories. We
skied Beaver Creek twice and also Snowmass, Breckinridge,
Vail and Copper. Much thanks to Dave Syvertson for the use
of his fabulous large home on top of a mountain @ 9000 ft
overlooking i70 and Beaver Creek.
Nick Ahlen had a ski app on his phone that showed us doing
22000 ft of vertical a day with a top speed of 41 mph. That
may sound slow to you RVers and it is nowhere near the speed
of an Olympic downhiller, but for a 66 yr old I assure you
that it was fast enough.
Dan DeBry has some video and pics that I hope he can post on
here as I am technologically challenged.
After skiing all day it was cocktails, shooting pool,
playing cards and talking about airplanes. It just doesn't
get any better than that.
John Morgan
PS Dave promised us that the hot tub will be fixed for next
years trip!
__________________
John Morgan
Atlanta, GA KPDK
N613SC
RV6A -SMILIN 1
Stick Labeled
From Rich Meske at
www.AircraftExtras.com
ELECTROLUMINESCENT LIGHTING
We just received a new batch of Electroluminescent lighting
in for the new year. This has been a popular choice for RVs
and other aircraft. The low blue lights are easy on the eyes
in the cockpit as well as the baggage compartment. Other
colors are available too. The lights are fully dimmable with
use of a voltage regulator input. We offer them with a 12V
or 24V inverter. The lights are easy to attach to the under
side of your glare shield with a little bit of double sided
tape or Silicon Rubber. The continuous one inch wide light
strip keeps down those pesky shadows too. See our lighting
products and more at
www.aircraftextras.com
Notable Bridges Thread ...Mark Burns entry
London Bridge with some of my friends! Lake Havasu
City, AZ
Photo by Randal Warren "Digger"
Tue Jan 28. 1240z ....some
interesting tidbits plucked from the
VAF forums (posting
guidelines)
Danny King's 'Beautiful Doll' ...Tom Schad photo
RV-4
And The Cranberry Bogs ...Steve Rush
The fog finally lifted, for a day, and I went out to Hoquiam for possibly
the last lunch before Lana's closes and moves into town. While there I went
out and played over the coast. All in all, a very nice day.
Burke
Wick's RV-8 ...Anchorage, Alaska
Status in Pics ...R.Welch (UK)
16 yr old barn find. Virtually untouched QB/Slider.
Good, good, good...Good vibration
Survived First Power Up ...BigD RV-10
The Most Kick @ss Paper Airplane Ever Built
Mon Jan 27. 1258z ....some
interesting tidbits plucked from the
VAF forums (posting
guidelines)
This is how I roll....Brad Benson
RV-10 Build Timelapse #1036 - H.Stab
Crabandy Updates (many)
Notable bridges...from the RV
Official first day of Building.... Sorta
First Flight! ...(as pax). Bret.
A couple of us met up (first time) at the Tail dragger cafe KMEV for
breakfast this morning, looked at a very nice 8 project sitting in a
very nice hanger, a 6, and an offer for a ride! Heck ya! Once airborne
he let me feel her out. This is not a Cessna! Now I can see where
transition training is going to be very important before my first
flight. The stick was very sensitive to input controls that I was not
familiar with. Crusing faster than the Skyhawk at half the fuel burn!
Can't wait to finish mine. Nice to meet you Craig and Andy! Thanks
again.
Why we pay the big bucks to live in California
Status: bruceh
 |
Don't use the wrong air filter
Teaser shots...
Don't forget these flap bolts
We Need A New Word
What word would describe a pilot that has flown in all 50 states?
RV-7 Status: Janekom ...S.Africa
Now it's the leading edge!!!!
I have an airplane! ...John Courte (RV-7)
Special Airworthiness Cert issued to RV7 313TD yesterday at 12:30pm!
Adam Valdez was my DAR, and he made a very thorough inspection of the
ship. He found 14 minor squawks all of which were corrected. I also
received an onsite briefing by Dave Voelker of the FAA on how to
interpret my op lims and what my phase 1 test area really means. It was
a thoroughly pleasant and enjoyable process.
It still hasn't sunk in yet, that I can take to the skies (the skies
within 50nm of KOXR), supported by a machine that I built. It also
hasn't sunk in yet that I've finished one leg of the journey and I'm
about to start on the next.
For the most part, this post is meant to be a great, big, giant thanks to
all VAF'ers, who have helped me directly or indirectly just by sharing
information and conversation, and to DR for providing a venue for it to
happen.
From the RV
...grassfire west of
Denton, TX.
Latest CNC Panel Cut from
www.upnorthaviation.com
 |
Fri Jan 24. 1236z ....some
interesting tidbits plucked from the
VAF forums (posting
guidelines)
Wishing you and yours a happy, safe and
RV-filled weekend!
The Bridges of New York City ...Vlad
Just off the bench at
SteinAir
(from Stein) ...This
was an existing panel from a flying RV8 of which the
customer decided to upgrade. It is a mix of old and new
instruments, mainly a new AFS-5800 12” TouchScreen and a
GTN-650. Turned out be a really nice setup.
Electrical System Planning - Input requested ...akarmy
Like I really needed to ask. I'm sure I'll get a full
dose of the input I desire.
The basics first. I'm building a very simple VFR only RV-8.
Single Dynon Skyview 10" with a GTR200 radio / intercom. LED
lights, dual P-MAGS, manual trims. No autopilot initially,
but wired for the servos with brackets installed. PC680 on
the firewall, B&C starter, Plane power alternator "with OV"...
My last plane had a basic Aeroelectric Z-11 primary / ebus.
I'm looking to go even simpler with this one. Don't think I
really need the endurance bus concept as the Dynon has a
backup battery so what else is really needed to continue
going or to land? Lastly, I'm leaning towards the dreaded
avionics switch as I have a few devices that don't have a
power switch and while they can be on during start, I would
rather be able to cut them off if needed.
Here's what I have thus far. What am I missing?
(click image to enlarge)
The Polar Vortex got me !...petersb
After 2 1/2 years building and then only 1 month flying I
went out to the hangar and found large cracks in my slider
canopy.
This occurred after several -25 C evenings.
The first crack originates from a rivit just behind the
canopy handle and goes in both directions about 6 inches,
the second is four rivits back in both directions about 4
inches each way.
Have stop drilled and will reinforce so I can keep flying
for now.
From what I have read in the Forums it seems that most
slider cracks mostly originate from the top center bow.
So my thoughts re: replacement is to rivit the foreward and
aft bows and use the existing screws in the skirt, however,
use glue (sika) for the centre bow. This should allow a good
fit with the existing windscreen fairing etc.
Use the clecos in the exisiting rivit holes in the top
center bow to hold the plexi in place untill the glue sets.
Some have suggested still installing the top rivits, they
will also hold the trim strip in place, the glue will stop
the plexi expanding with temperature changes and putting
pressure on the rivits.
GRT Sport doing aerobatics
Charity Hat Sighting
....Mr. Craig Dixon ('Ranger' in
the forums...9A flying since 7/27/13)
"Tiger Leaping Gorge, near Lijiang, Yunnan, China"
"Jade Dragon Snow Mountain (18,360') near Lijiang,
Yunnan, China"
fmi:
All about the VansAirForce.net charity cap
Thu Jan 23. 1251z ....some
interesting tidbits plucked from the
VAF forums (posting
guidelines)
Getting Ready for Work
Charlie Kearns (two doors down from theVanCave)
readies his RV-8 for a day trip - visiting clients 1.5 hours
away by RV. Beats driving five hours.
Banana Puddin', First flight ...Stewie
N986BP “Banana Puddin’” made her first flight June 9
(finally getting around to posting this!) under the skilled
test-piloting of Tom Porta (CFI, RV-8 driver Reno-Stead).
...
This suddenly became real ...60av8tor (RV-10)
What is the saying...one bite at a time..?
After months of thinking, planning, and prepping, it's
finally beginning!! With the ink still wet on my Sportair
Workshop certificate, this showed up this afternoon. I'm
excited, nervous, happy, and hesitant all at the same time.
Paul K FWF Inspection at 80 hours
With the weather turned really bad, I decided to take a
serious look at my RV7a FWF installation after 80 hours. I
typically look everything over at 25 hr oil changes and when
in phase one, all the time. These typical inspections look
for fluid leaks, loose stuff, and anything that looks out of
order. With this inspection, I looked at every wire, hose,
cable, bolt, clamp, ect.... A very through looking at.
Following is what I found.
more pics
Flying in one of these cold days ...chiricucu in Madrid,
Spain
RV-4 Status: Rick Morris ...started in 1983.
Shawn Li RV-7 Status ...Seattle, WA
After fixing a few wiring mistakes, I had my first power
on. My panel is for day/night VFR right now, with space
reserved for potential upgrade to IFR. When I first planned
my panel I was thinking all steam gauges, but now there is
no single round gauge on the panel. I have one Dynon ADIRU,
one backup battery for pilot side display (I can make it
switchable between left and right side display). Hope I have
enough redundancy. I will have iPad as backup if necessary.
datsclark Status
After a nearly two hear hiatus from building, I got back
into the shop a few months ago. I had been working and
living about 40 mins away from the project, so it fell by
the waysides. I quit my job so I could work full time on the
plane!
Actually, I quit so I could first spent 5 months riding my
motorcycle around the country and Canada! This picture from
a campground from Sampson State park in New York seems
fitting seems fitting.
...
How bruceh Did It...
I used a couple of popsicle sticks around the step tubing
to center it, then drilled the block in place. I think you
do need to cut some relief for the tube on the corner rib.
Not a great photo, but is this what you are describing?
Status: akarmy
All parts again and now comes that part where motivation
is challenged… Time to tear apart all the fuselage parts and
debur, dimple, countersink, prime, etc...
Wed Jan 22. 1251z ....some
interesting tidbits plucked from the
VAF forums (posting
guidelines)
Fuselage bottom skin to wing bottom overlap
I am working on the right wing right now and where the
bottom fuselage skin overlaps the bottom wing skin (#8
screws to hold) the fuselage skin does not fit flush with
the bottom wing skin. This is looking from underneath the
right wing toward the fuselage. 2/32nds and 3/32nds gaps.
DIY Heated Vest ...Pete Howell
I know this was probably not worth the time to make, but
I had some fun, learned some stuff, and the dang thing
really works!!! It is cold in St Paul!!!
And yes, I don't plan to wear this when I go thru a TSA
checkpoint.......
I used an old Land's End vest, 30 ft of 24ga nichrome wire,
a few feet or regular wire, some micro heatshrink, a few
butt connectors, a PWM controller and some glue to make a
toasty warm airplane Pete warmer for about $40!
You can buy most of the stuff on Amazon and then have fun
with the basic EE equations to size the elements. The
controller uses pulses to efficiently regulate the power
from the 12-14V power source.
2V = barely warm,
6v = toasty,
12V = broil!
I used 5 elements in parallel and the result is just about
right. The pockets are heated and there is an upper and 2
lower back elements. I'll clean up the controller and the
hookup wires and it should be good to go!
Alex P is making heated boot liners with some of the wire he
stole from me (don't really need all 350 ft on the
roll......) Those might me next on the list!
Panel Geography Lesson
I'm starting to think about wiring my plane, so I'm
thinking about what my panel is going to look like and that
brings up the idea of tablets.
I
was around when we saw the exponential growth of
microcomputers, and we are now seeing the same thing with
tablets, which are actually thin flat microcomputers.
Multi-processor, gigabyte, HIGH RES microcomputers.
Tablets are getting faster, more powerful, networked,
sharper, have greater capacity in processor, memory and
storage. And cheaper.
I believe that EVERYONE who is planning a panel today better
plan for a panel mounted tablet.
* Cut a hole for the tablet? Nope. You will not know if your
tablet will be 7", 8" 10" or even 12". RAM type mounts that
allow the tablet to snap onto the surface and slide in and
out. Remember, there is a good chance you will be replacing
you panel tablet every three years!
...
Garmin Pilot Adds Enhancements to iOS and Android
...new release on both
operating platforms. Version 6.0 for iOS and Version 2.8 for
Android mobile devices are available for update and offer a
number of enhancements and integration among several other
Garmin products.
Tue Jan 21. 1306z ....some
interesting tidbits plucked from the
VAF forums (posting
guidelines)
Wiring an RV...on a deployment ...RV7AJeremy
I thought some of you might get a kick out of this.
I knew I was going to have more free time on this deployment
than I have had on others, so I figured why not wire the RV.
I spent the first two months designing the electrical
system; I drew it out on AutoCAD, figured out every wire
size and breaker size. I had a friend from back home measure
out the lengths I needed (thanks Jim), then I added a few
extra feet to the ends just to make sure.
Before I left home, I made a fake panel out of some scrap,
cut it in two and riveted on a hinge so it would fit in my
suitcase.
...
Surgeries ...Allan Stern
I am two weeks out from having my Mitral valve replaced
Jan 6, 2014 and feeling like a mule has kicked me the few
days after surgery. Today I feel great still a little sore
in my ribs. Doctor did minimally invasive procedure. Was not
having major problems and did this as a pro active procedure
so I would have a long healthy retirement. Decided to have
operation in Winter when not flying as much and work toward
getting medical back for Spring. Will see how complicated
this will be.
RV8A 125 hours.
Bonfire Flights at Spruce Creek ...tc1234c
Here at Spruce Creek during annual Toy Parade (December)
and Bonfire (January) Gaggle Flight always put up a big
fly-by. On last Saturday we must had 40+ airplanes in the
air at the same time. Before Gaggle launch, a TBM and P-51
made a few low passes. After the Gaggle fly-by, two
Aerostars made a formation pass. RVs are well represented in
the flight. I was part of a 14 ship Lakes Flight and was
with the lead Aerostar. Here are a few photos to share. Most
of the photos are taken by Gary Rosier.
...
RV-4 Canopy Loss (2002) ...lella
I'm not sure how many pilots have survived a complete
canopy loss in an RV4, but it happened to me....and since
you asked, here is my experience:
Back in 2002, on February 3rd, a day which I will never
forget, I was goofing around and showing off the performance
of my RV4 to a bunch of former hang gliding buddies waiting
to launch off a hill at Lake McClure, in the foothills of
the California Sierra Nevada mountains.
I snuck up on the launch site from behind at about 1000 ft
above the mountain, stalled the plane and dove towards the
landing area, way surpassing the recommended VNE of the
plane (around 230 mph when I last checked). I then pulled as
hard as I could for a near vertical climb and as close to
the ground as possible....stupid, ignorant and inexperienced
as I was.
The pull registered 7 G's on my G meter, and nearly caused
me to black out. The one thing I'll never forget in my blue
skyward daze, was an instant "puff" of air hitting me in my
face...a mili-second before the massive explosion of the
canopy loss.
...
Alton Bay '14 ...Vlad
Visited Alton Bay today. Runway and parking area bumpy.
Challenging for our small wheels. Hit snow bumps several
times should have removed the fairings.
...
New Member in LA ...Ryan Ducote (Broussard, LA)
Just wanted to say hi from Louisiana. I currently fly a
Bonanza but have been dreaming of building an RV7 or RV14
for a while now. If there is anyone in the Southwest
Louisiana area that is currently building, I would love the
chance to come by and see their project and see some of
their techniques. Blue skies to all!!!!
Slide out instrument panel?
Luckiest guys on the planet
According to several folks here at KWHP (Whiteman, SoCal)
My brother-in-law and I are the second luckiest guys on the
planet. We have now installed the RV-9A canopy roll over bar
and canopy frame and THEY FIT!!!
...
RV-4 Status ...David Taylor (Australia)
Dynon is hiring! -- Sustaining Electrical Engineer --
...Woodinville, WA
Mon Jan 20. 1254z ....some
interesting tidbits plucked from the
VAF forums (posting
guidelines)
From Chris Thelan... A little
teaser from this
morning's photo shoot at the Sebring LSA Expo!
Brantel Update
I am 12 days post op. My personal opinion is that my
recovery is going very well. No complications at all. It has
went better than my expectations. Apparently it has also
gone better than the average for the procedure I had.
Knock on wood, lets all hope it stays that way!
I will go back to work on Monday.
Thanks all for the well wishes and most of all the prayers!
This thread is truly heartwarming for a feller to wake up to
in recovery!
Get some air time for me the next few weeks! I am going to
take the downtime as an opportunity to do some maintenance
and the condition inspection!
Brian C.
Oh...I almost forgot! 34.2 lbs down!
North Dallas View from RV - Sure is Dry Here ...Chris Pratt
photos
RVs give one a different perch from which to view the
world. These pics of the north end of Lake Dallas show just
how dry this area is. The light tan and rust brown areas
should all be under water. This is the worst I can remember
seeing in my eight years of flying the RV over this
reservoir.
...
Cracked Windscreen; help requested!
Posted on the "How cold is too cold" thread, but thought I'd post it
separately to solicit advice:
I think I jinxed myself; after bragging about my New Years Day cold weather
flight, I went back to the airport yesterday to fly (in much milder temps)
and discovered a 2" crack in the windscreen, probably from the cold temps
last time out. Bummer. The crack is at the bottom of the screen on the
passenger side at the "corner" where the screen curves from the frontal
plane to longitudinal. It can't be seen from inside the cockpit at all, and
there is zero separation; can barely feel it with a fingernail.
...
The
Arctic of Upstate NY ...Vlad photos
"...Braking action nil..."
The godfather of APRS ...Bob Collins post
You
can do some pretty good things when you live near Pete
Howell. In response to an earlier thread in which I
scratched my head with getting the connections right for
this legacy APRS tracking gizmo, Pete volunteered to help me
out. This is typical Pete.
Fortunately, he was just working on an electric vest (I
believe), so all the tools were ready to go when I stopped
by on Saturday.
45 minutes later, I was in business (link).
Can't wait to test it out.
If there ever is an RV Hall of Fame (well, I guess there
actually is one, in Elkhart, but not that kind), Pete would
be a charter inductee.
More awful Florida weather ...MarkW
We are developing a small group of RV'ers here at
SouthEast Ramp KSFB (Sanford Florida).
...
More on Clayton's Polished Hangar Floor ...Clayton
Alright
- I heard from more than one of the airport bums here at my
field this weekend and they informed me that they read
Doug's site and saw the picture of my shop floor. They all
gave me **** about making the concrete polishing job I did
on my shop floor sound too easy. They are partially correct
- at least in the total amount of time I spent on the
project. No single step was particularly difficult, but it
did take several hours to complete the total project. The
floor was filthy, had remnants of a 30 year old sealer, and
lots of over-spray and glue to remove before I could even
get started with the polish job.
Please do understand that one can never admit that these
Airport Bums are 100% right, as their heads might explode.
Just to reiterate my own experience, I did not grind the
concrete, but started with what I had adopted - 30 years of
service, stains and all. I used the 3M Trizac Diamond discs
and the 3M Scotchguard floor protector(Nano Technology). The
chemical process acts as a barrier and has a higher slip
resistance characteristics than standard sealers and floor
finishes.
...
OFF Topic
"Rape, murder! It's just a shot away."
--- Merry Clayton (background singer on 'Gimme
Shelter')
Susie and I watched '20
Feet From Stardom' Friday night on demand. Date
night. $5.99. IMHO, one of the better uses of
our TV in a long time. If you listened to music from
the 60's on, you've heard the work of the women interviewed.
Two things stood out to me. One, a sentence Sting
says about the random, blind luck aspect of the music
industry - that talent really isn't needed anymore.
Two, a producer describing a budget line in modern recording
sessions for 'tuning' (correcting modern singer's pitch).
"Why can't they sing in tune?", his response.
Backup Singers
Interviewed:Darlene Love
Merry Clayton
Claudia Lennear
Tata Vega. |
Some of their work
you might know:What'd I Say - Ray
Charles
Gimme Shelter - Rolling Stones
Young Americans - David Bowie
Sweet Home Alabama - Lynyrd Skynyrd
Southern Man - Neil Young
Da Doo Ron Ron - The Crystals |
DO go to this link:
Merry Clayton's isolated background track on Gemme
Shelter
fmi:
20 Feet From Stardom /
Trailer
Fri Jan 17. 1301z ....some
interesting tidbits plucked from the
VAF forums (posting
guidelines)
Wishing you a happy, safe and RV-filled weekend!
The Polished Concrete Shop/Hangar Floor ...the how, why and what
(Capflyer) ...Using sealer on cement floors
is becoming old school. The Jan/San industry is moving to
Diamond pads. Different manufacturers call them different
things but think of it like polishing aluminum. Start with
heavier grits pads and work your way down. If you go into
most Aviation Depots and some of the other big box stores
you'll see glossy concrete floors done with this system and
no sealer or finish on them. The problem with sealers and
floor finishes used on concrete, terazzo (not that finsih
should ever be put on terazzo but I see it all the time),
VCT or older asbestos flooring is that they wear off and
also require a lot more maintenance. Rental places that have
any type of floor equipement are good places to start if you
want to go this route. Not sure if they will carry the
Diamond pads though. For those you may need to hit up a
janitorial supply house that sells over the counter. Just be
aware these pads are expensive...
(Clayton)
In my particular case, I am fortunate in the fact that my
brother is in the Jan/San business as a manufactures rep. He
put me on to the very thing that Mike (CapFlyer) mentioned -
that being the use of Diamond pads and a stone sealer. These
pads, in combination with a low speed machine like the one
Doug has "Taken a Shine" to, and a high speed buffer/burnisher
will make concrete look almost as good as granite. This is
all done wet, so there is no dust to deal with.
The level of shine is just a matter of how much time and
energy you are willing to put into the job - much like
polishing aluminum. Unlike aluminum, the sealer will lock in
the shine, and an occasional burnishing will bring back the
full shine.
My hangar floor [above right]
is about 30 years old and had everything from oil and acid
spills to paint and upholstery glue on it. Consequently,
after lots of clean up I still ended up with a number of
"Character" marks in a very shiny floor. Which is fine with
me and the look I am actually after.
The next option for an established floor is actual grinding,
which is done dry, very messy, and extremely expensive. You
would get the same shine, but get rid of most all of the
character marks from past hangar spills.
If you have a new floor, or for those who will be pouring a
new slab in the future, I would certainly suggest the
polished floor with stone sealer instead of the epoxy paint.
It is easier to clean, much less slippery when wet, and in
my opinion looks better.
It looks like CapFlyer is in the business, and I am sure he
could enlighten you even more. As I understand the Jan/San
business from my brother, it is regional in nature, where
the manufactures have representatives covering specific
territories. If you are in CapFlyer's area, I will bet he
can hook you up. If you have an interest in the equipment DR
was using, you can contact Viper directly and Laura said she
would line up VAF readers with the appropriate rep for their
particular location.
Might be something that a group of hangar owners would go in
on - especially when you look at the cost of renting the
equipment.
Poster Surprise ...David Paule
This was a surprise in the box that came from Van's
today. It's a nice poster of the RV-1, roughly 24" x 20".
It was under a large piece of cardboard - so if you're
getting something from Van's, keep an eye out
Cross country to Florida in 2017 - who's with me?
...for
the project launch of NASA's Space Launch System...
(dmaib) Come on down to New Smyrna Beach. We can make a
party of it. I have several favorite spots to watch the
launches. Weather permitting, watching from my boat is lots
of fun. I might even be able to scavenge a hangar spot or
two.
(Vlad) I am in. I love Space parties
(CubedRoot) This thing is almost as large as the Saturn V
rockets, and I mean close by a few feet. It will be an
amazing site to see, I am down for the cross country
(RickWoodall) To make it an international event, I
will round up a few of the Canucks to attend too! Rockets
are cool eh?
Vans RV-6 Flight New Years Day 2014 ...Doug Jones
About 13 minutes of video from a 1 hour flight. Getting
familiar with the great flying qualities of the Vans RV-6.
Hazy at ground level on this warm New Years Day but
unlimited visibility above 2,500 feet or so.
This aircraft is powered by a 150hp Lycoming O-320 with a
fixed pitch wooden propeller by Bernie Warnke.
Thu Jan 16. 1242z ....some
interesting tidbits plucked from the
VAF forums (posting
guidelines)
And Yet Another Build Delay ...Joe Wilber RV-10
So here we are 16 months later and we have another little
blessing to add to our family. .... Surprisingly the RV-10
build delay this time has been minimal. That's probably
because the older the others get, the more (actual) help
they become.
I'm very proud to introduce Melody Anna Wilbur, just 2 hours
old in this picture, born 1/13/2014 - healthy and happy (and
Mom's doing fine, too):
It has a knob labeled 'Rabbit' and 'Turtle' ...even
*I* can understand that!
My friend (and hangar neighbor) Clayton has really
prettied up his hangar lately. First pic below is
where his RV-8 project lives. Rest assured the floor
didn't look like this when he bought the place. Far
from it. His brother works as a rep for a company that
sells commercial quality floor scrubbers and such, and
because of this, Clayton knows where to get the 'good
stuff'. Yesterday he let me borrow his Viper 20HD
automatic floor scrubber.
OMG.
Who knew such mechanical wonders existed - it's like a
Zamboni machine for concrete. Filled it with 15
gallons of water and 12oz of cleaner, and then spent about
ten minutes watching a perfectly clean strip of hangar floor
continuously appear from behind. Clean and dry in one
pass.
I'm sold. It's like mowing, but without all the
sneezing. And fast. They aren't cheap, but I
would imagine some with larger hangers and renters could
justify this.
Now, if I could just convince Clayton to let me store it
at my place, and have his brother's potential buyers demo it
on my floor. You think he'll go for it? Yeah, me
neither. ;^)
Clayton's Polished Concrete Shop Floor ...where his RV-8
project lives.
Yours truly scrubbing the Cave. I'm guessing Hank Hill
feels like this when he
mows the lawn. Clayton McMartin photo.
L to R: Master, Suction, Brush, Water/Cleaner, Brush Height.
Switch under L handle: Reverse. Knob under R handle:
Speed.
It drops water/cleaner, scrubs, then vacuums it up all in one
pass.
An amazing machine.
Clayton emailed me later that his brother
sent the following contact info (below) if anyone is
interested in this scrubber unit. Will find you a
nearby rep:
(click to enlarge)
The Van Cave floor after 10 minutes. Click on this and
note the shine
...and this is BEFORE going over it with the burnisher.
Airplane Inspection Party ...beav (San Jose, CA)
Since the beginning of my project, I chose to build my
RV-7 in a very public way by documenting every step of the
project (including the mistakes I've made) on my blog. This
has been hugely valuable as builders from around the world
have caught a number of issues both large and small or have
challenged me to get a second opinion on something. Now, as
I get ready for meeting with my DAR in a few weeks, I'd like
to do the same thing for the inspection of my plane. To that
end, I'm hosting an Airplane Inspection Party at my hangar
at the San Martin Airport (E16) in San Martin, CA this
Saturday, January 18th between 10am and 5pm. Feel free to
stop by for as much or as little of that time as you want.
I’ll have the BBQ grill running and plenty of snacks and
cold drinks. If you plan on coming during lunch, please let
me know so I can get enough food.
I want to get as many eyes on the plane as I can before the
final inspection, and I promise to post every issue that is
found to help other builders have a better idea what to look
for during an inspection.
My hangar is H-23. There is a small amount of parking on
that row, but most will want to park in transient and walk
down.
If you need to reach me, my cell is 408-368-0690.
Thanks, and I hope to see many of you there.
__________________
jason
N4VR
RV-7 (Just Prior to Inspection)
Q: Is a bench vise really needed/required?
A: Yes.
G3X Install Lesson learned ...SFB711
Fore those of you installing G3X systems, these are a few
not so obvious things I took note of to maybe save you some
time and frustration.
Install was single display GDU 370 with standard GSU 25 AHRS,
GMU 44 magnetometer, GPT 59 Temp probe, GAD 29 GNS430
interface, and a GMC305 Flight Director. No Garmin auto
pilot installed. This replaced my Dynon D100.
Installed Using Revision K.
...
Wire routing to tail cone questions
....I am contemplating using the ¾ light weight
corrugated black conduit from VAN. I have fair bit left over
from the wings.
Cutting two hole – on one the left side and one on the
right. Similar to the holes for the rudder cables – but
higher up – above the top stringer. One for signals and one
for power for the rudder strobe and tail light ...
Comments?
Wed Jan 15. 1259z ....some
interesting tidbits plucked from the
VAF forums (posting
guidelines)
RV Fun Proof. Click to enlarge.
'Export All Tracks'....no idea how many flights this is.
I made it my iPhone
background .
Trip to EFII ...John Walker RV-10
So, since I live in San Diego, and Robert's EFII
Electronic Injection and Electronic Fuel Injection System
Company is just up in Upland, I decided to take advantage of
a free day in my schedule and shoot up there to see his
stuff first hand.
Manometer...
(from the 'Damaging the tanks' thread) I ended up
using 1/2 tubing to construct a manometer. It worked as
advertised and I found a couple pinhole leaks in the corner
seals. Thanks very much for all the replies, like
drinking from a firehose
A Few More Pins Terminated ...BigD
Making progress. Two more Garmin avionics connectors to
go, the engine monitor sensors (later) and the two big
D-subs on the VPX. Also found out I hadn't planned for
intercom wires...and I haven't started in with switches
either.
If all goes well I'll be trying to light up some screens
next weekend. Oh, wait...I need to mount forest of tabs,
fuse block, magnetometer, starter contactor and
feed-through...maybe in two weekends.
Video: Bird Strike - Goose Crashes Through Cessna 210 Windshield
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVq3dfDDFKY
[ed. Reinforces my
conscience decision to wear a
helmet, motorcycle goggles, or at the very least
thick prescription sunglasses
on all RV flights.
Neither of the gentlemen above were wearing eye
protection of any kind, even eyeglasses. I think we
can agree they got lucky.
]
International Vans RV-Meeting- 30.5.2014 - 01.06.2014 at
Muenster-Telgte (EDLT)
...60NM North-East of Dusseldorf (EDDL)...
Tue Jan 14. 1258z ....some
interesting tidbits plucked from the
VAF forums (posting
guidelines)
Florida winters...MarkW
We had a three ship planned for a trip from Sanford, FL.
KSFB to Venice, FL. KVNC for Saturday but the weather was
windy and 700' yuk ahead of a front.
Sunday could not have been better. Severe clear 65-70f.
Left Sanford as a two ship and flew to the West coast for a
trip south past Tampa to the West side and down the coast.
...
Thanks for the help ...Bill Thomasson
Thanks for everyone's help and coming over to socialize.
Weather cleared up just as the party got started, so after
eating we put the wings on!
Starting to look like a plane!
We had about 15 builders show up including RV
6,7,8,10,12,14's.
Back in the shop ...Larry Larson
What
a strange three months. I'm finally back in the shop working
on Lucy. It was only 1 1/2 hours but still gets the hobbs
meter turning again. I didn't post earlier because so many
others have bigger problems. I'm just happy to get back in
the shop.
So we planned a vacation to visit the kids and grandkids and
left a couple days before Halloween. We had a wonderful time
but spent one week working on my Tabitha (Tracker). She
dropped a timing chain and it took some time for me to fix
her. We got home on schedule Dec 8 and set up Christmas
decorations. I was ready to start working again. Then the
weird part started. Dec 11.
Going to the shed for boxes, I slipped on ice off the stairs
and landed on the driveway. Both bones in the lower leg
broken. I've broken bones before so I knew as soon as I hit
what was wrong. Sweetie heard me yelling and brought me a
shovel to use as a crutch. She got me to ER. They were so
wonderful and splinted it to keep it stable.
Thankfully we have a new Orthopedic Surgeon who happened to
be on duty. Later that day, he put in a titanium pin from
the knee to the ankle with screws holding it at the top and
bottom and sent me home the next day. The following week, he
put me in a boot and told me I could start walking with
crutches.
All is healing well. In fact I ditched the crutches a week
early after week two. Doctor gave me a high five for my
progress.
Today was the first day I felt I could walk around working
and standing in the shop. It was so nice. It only lasted a
short time before I had to get off the leg, but I'm going
back in a little longer tomorrow.
The Hobbs is turning on Lucy again!
Starting with APRS -- dummy side up ...Bob Collins
I've had an APRS antenna hanging around three different
hangars for at least six years now. Pete Howell sent it
along on the day I gave his wife and son a tour of Minnesota
Public Radio. At the time, I believe, journalism was a
possibility for the lad, who was still in high school. Last
time I checked, he's in college now and, hopefully, the
Howells successfully beat (metaphorically, of course) the
idea of a career out of his head. No matter, I ended up with
an APRS antenna anyway.
Then about two years ago, following the excellent
instructions from Sam Buchanan, I ordered this gizmo, which
has sat unused in that time.
...
akarmy Status Update
Here's the fuselage just about wrapped up with the
initial fit and drill. Lot's of clecos required for this
stage. Lucky for me I was able to borrow some more from a
local builder.
AFS Sebring Info ...Rob Hickman
Headed to Florida for the week. First three days I will
be Seaplane and Turbo prop flying and the last part of the
week we will have a booth at Sebring.
Advanced Flight Systems will be in booth H103 next to Dynon.
We will have EFIS screens from 12" to 8" all with touch
screens on display and connected to XM radio, ads-b, and the
new Dynon com radio.
All of our EFIS screens are now shipping with support for
the Dynon Skyview network. The latest AF-5000
manual on our web site has complete documentation for
interfacing the ADAHRS and radio.
Rollover Bar Done! ....comfortcat
Is this a reasonable fuel line routing method? ...grayforge
p51dplt's RV-8 in flight
Mon Jan 13. 1259z ....some
interesting tidbits plucked from the
VAF forums (posting
guidelines)
I would like to thank John and Chris for
stopping by this weekend and letting folks look over N249VA, the
newest RV-12 S-LSA (on its way to Sebring). Very, very
nice folks. They arrived after dark Saturday - I took the
picture below after they tucked it in for the night. They
showed it to several folks on Sunday.
Hope you had a nice weekend, also.
Dave's PIREP /
More on the RV-12 S-LSA
Tracy, CA to Sisters, OR ...Mike Macon
I have been working in the Bay Area for a few weeks and I
usually do not get a chance to fly back home to Sisters, OR
very often due to the weather this time of year. This year
is different.
...
Bartelsb RV-3
I purchased this RV3 N833RV sn 11302 in November
2013. Now that I have 25 or so hours, I am begginning to
really enjoy this toy. She's kept at 7B3 in ,NH. A 2100 foot
grass strip. She has 108 hours tt since new. All wing mods
completed and just yesterday finished the first Annual
Condition inspection of my ownership. Winter is a nice time
in New Hampshire to do this. She has a slightly high 884#
empty weight, but she sure can fly.
Welcome Buller Enterprises, Inc ...ad lives in the Previous
Day's News section
(from
Larry Buller)
When I built my RV7A, two products came to
mind that were not currently offered. One was a method to
bend the longerons without resorting to hammers. The result
was a set of bending dies to gently and controllably bend
the longerons. My RV7A has a tip up canopy, that when
unlatched is quite floppy on the aft end. The latches need
to extend down through a ¾” square hole to line up with a
hook. Frequently the canopy latches would bang down on the
side of the hole making a nasty noise and chip the paint.
Now you need to look over your shoulder to see which
direction it needs to move to get through the hole. With
our CNC machinery we make a set of canopy guides that guide
the latch down through the hole.
fmi:
http://www.bullerent.com/experimental.htm
Once upon a time in the West ...Vlad photos 2012
Scott Card -8 Status Update
"So Scott, how is that RV8 project coming?" Well, I
just came in from the shop after taking off the Bunny Suit.
This morning I asked Tanya, "Hey, would you mind coming out
here and masking the canopy while I mix up some primer?"
We'll see how she did tomorrow
.
Actually we both spent about six hours yesterday masking the
inside and outside of this thing. I'm hoping that the
exterior is final "very rough" finish for now until final
surface finish just before paint. Not a pin hole anywhere in
sight. Can you say, clear candy coating?
The interior is coming along as well. I shot my last coat of
high build primer yesterday. Next is a little more final
finish sanding, paint the glairshield flat black, then final
finish on the interior which is AKZO green primer
.
Giddyup! I'm tired of having to thumb wrestle for an
airplane to fly.
Watch this....
This little film made by Jesper Radegard may be something
for your web-site. It is filmed during last summer in Sweden
and the RV-7A in the movie is mine. Some inspiration for
builders and something to dream of during the dark and cold
winter we have here in the north.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0Kuoj7KXhU&feature=youtu.be
Best Regards
Lennart Oborn
Sweden
RV-7A, SE-XLL
The Aviators TV show ...n5lp screen grabs
Tweiss Status Update
First Oil Change ...crabandy
From Tina's Pilot Shop....
Fri Jan 10. 1259z ....some
interesting tidbits plucked from the
VAF forums (posting
guidelines)
Wishing you and yours a happy, safe and
RV-filled weekend!
If you've ever wondered what the face of a burned exhaust
valve looks like....
...here is one. Photographed yesterday via my
iPhone at Richmond Aircraft at my home field. RV-7A
getting its annual done - leak check in the 50s on one
cylinder. Note the discoloration at 1 o'clock and 5
o'clock positions. Cylinder taken to Sal's Aircraft
Cylinders, Inc in nearby Prosper, TX for some love.
Factory Built RV-12 S-LSA
Headed to the Van Cave January 12th
The latest factory-built
RV-12 S-LSA takes off today on its way from Van’s in Oregon
to the Sebring Light Sport EXPO in Florida and will be
making a special stop at the Van Cave in the Dallas/Ft.
Worth area of Texas.
The RV-12 Team planned a quick stop in Texas to give people
a chance to see the build quality on the factory built
RV-12s and to give a few demo flights for interested buyers
in the Dallas area.
N249VA will be at (52F) Northwest Regional Airport in front
of the Van Cave (map)
this coming Sunday morning
(depend upon the weather) for anyone who wants to stop on by
and take a look. Demo Flights have been scheduled in advance
and are all filled, but you will be able to track a live
feed of our progress toward Sebring on
http://www.flightradar24.com/data/airplanes/n249va.
If you are in the Dallas area this weekend, come check out
N249VA at the Van Cave.
[ed. If coming by car
please park out at the street, not on the ramp, so airplanes
can move around. Thanks! dr]
Getting the Heat Shield to Stick ...DanH
Epoxy primer is good, and a 2-part single stage urethane
topcoat over the primer is even better.
This PPG Shopline white, with Vans reflective self-stick
foil over strips of 1/16" fiberfrax felt. The fiberfrax
shadows the head pipes.
DR's Sister Needs a Job in the Houston Area.
My sister Donna is 7 years older than me, and ran
much-appreciated interference during my 'vulnerable years'.
Now hopefully I can help pay her back for that. If
you're looking for someone in the Houston area to work in
your office, I can't think of anyone who would work harder
for you.
A note from her, followed by her resumes. Thanks if
you can help.
"I worked for Trendmaker
Homes for 10 years in the accounting department, then as the
Manager for Cross Creek Ranch Welcome Center. In 2012, Cross
Creek Ranch was sold to Johnson Development and I returned
to Trendmaker’s Corp office in the Marketing Department.
Trendmaker Homes was recently sold, along with our sister
companies under the WRECO umbrella. As of Oct 1st, I was
RIFed and received a package from WRECO.
I am currently looking for a
new opportunity. I am reaching out to my friends, family and
previous co-workers for assistance locating opportunities in
their companies or possible positions in affiliated
companies. Holy Covenant's resident resume expert, Julia
Oldham, recommended I break out all my accounting background
into a stand alone resume. I have attached two resumes, one
a more concentrated accounting resume, and the other
inclusive of my multiple job responsibilities. If you know
of any job openings that align with my experience, please
let me know. Feel free to pass along my resumes to any
contacts you have that might know of a possible job
opportunity.
Thank you so much for your
help. I am blessed to have wonderful friends and family.
Please feel free to call or
email me."
Donna Reeves Lamb
donnawaco 'at' gmail 'dot' com
(832) 421-107
'Accounting' Resume...
'Job Responsibilities' Resume...
Thu Jan 9. 1258z ....some
interesting tidbits plucked from the
VAF forums (posting
guidelines)
Wesley Schierman...Rest in Peace
The RV community mourns the loss of a Great
American.
RV-8
...vuurwapen (Tucson, AZ)
Acquired a used RV-8 on the 30th of December. Have about 15 hours in her
so far. Haven't really had much time to take better photos, but I'll get
around to it.
More Amazing Pictures from an RV
Pound, pound, pound them rivets ...Rosie and Tuppergal get some press
Build
Your Own Tug
The RV-10 turned out to be a little challenging to push back into the
hanger by myself, especially when the ramp has snow and ice. The latest
discussion about pushing by the propeller on a CS prop convince me I needed
to come up with a tug fast and I did not like the idea of using an electric
winch. I found a snow blower at Lowe's.com that would work. 208 cc electric
start engine with 5 forward and 2 reverse speeds.
...
Control Sticks ...Sid
RV Marriage
Proposal Video ...no idea when, where or who (but congratulations!)
LOE'14...Russ Daves post
GREAT NEWS RE: LOE 2014 KABI (Abilene, TX) October 3-5,
2014
Gray Bridwell has agreed to co-chair LOE with me this year.
In addition, Gray has worked out arrangements for EAA 471 to
host the event. Wonderful facilities and lots of activities.
Move info coming soon. Mark your calendars now and plan on
attending.
Wed Jan 8. 1253z ....some
interesting tidbits plucked from the
VAF forums (posting
guidelines)
Cold Weather Flying
Critique my back riveting....
Add
me to the list ...welcome Dave Weiselberg (RV-10)
So I finally did it, I ordered my empennage kit yesterday.
It has been a long time coming. I think I went through the
standard builder steps. After lurking for a couple of years
I contacted Mitch, Vans's East coast rep. I've never seen a
10 up close and was excited to get my hands on one. Mitch
spent a few hours with me and my wife showing us the
airplane and taking us for a ride. I fly professionally for
a living and have flown countless aircraft from the piper
cub to a B-777; I was beyond impressed with the RV10. I can
honestly say that the 10 is one of the nicest airplanes that
I have flown. Even my wife loved the airplane asking me
"when can we get one". The next day I ordered a whole bunch
of tools that I had no idea how to use and made a temporary
workshop in my basement. I managed to put together the tool
box without a hitch but the practice airfoil proved to be a
little much for me so I contacted Keith from W.C. Aircraft
in Boone Iowa. My wife and I took a class with him and by
the time we were done I was comfortable with all of my tools
in my tool box and even ordered a few more from Cleaveland
tools that I felt that I couldn't live without. After
building a couple more airfoils for practice, joining EAA,
contacting my local chapter, and of course donating to this
wonderful site I ordered the Empennage kit. Now back to
reading primer wars...
Hey guys, Thanks for all the ...Brian Chesteen update
TeenFlight III Factory Tour - Van (FB piece)
On Thursday, Jan. 2nd, Van’s factory saw a larger than
usual tour group pass through. This consisted of 11 of the
13 student members of the Teenflight III Project, plus
parents, siblings, and a few mentors. It was a great
opportunity for these kids to see the origin of the RV-12
kit parts that they had been working on over the past 8
weeks. They were able to see the flow from
engineering/design through the parts punching and forming
processes. We’re confident that this experience left them
with a much better understanding of the entire gestation
process in the creation of an airplane. They ended up in our
hangar for a group photo in front of the RV-12.
...
Jan/Feb '14 FAA Safety Briefing
[ed. This site was mentioned on
page 15 as one of the 'fan favorites'. Honored to be
linked in a publication with 'Safety' in the title!
]
http://www.eaa.org/webinars/
FLIR for your iPhone5 or 5s......$349 (is the word on the street)
Tue Jan 7. 1256z ....some
interesting tidbits plucked from the
VAF forums (posting
guidelines)
Moving Day ...Kurt W (Kansas)
After almost 3 1/2 years, N425KW has finally left the
nest. No, not in the first flight sort of way - that'll have
to wait. On Thursday morning the roll-back truck arrived to
pick up my baby and haul it to the airport.
...
Dayton NV day trip ...Mike S
Motivated by Rosie's writeup about visiting Paul and
Louise in Dayton, I decided Laura and I needed to fly over
and say hi to them also.
Laura has been gone to Hawaii for 5 months with her work,
and this is the first flight since she has been home-----so
we needed to do more than just a simple "go to lunch"
flight.
...
Speedy recovery "Brantel"
As many of you know, this is the day Brian Chesteen AKA
Brantel goes in for surgery, and I think it would be a good
thing for him to find a long thread of best wishes waiting
for him when he gets back here on VAF-----so folks, jump in
and send him a message.
Wings Installed ...Nicholas Blanck (CA)
Brought the airplane down to the hangar a few weeks ago.
Now we have the wings installed!
...
Never too cold to build!
Shrimp Boil Date Change ...5/3/14. Port A, TX
Mon Jan 6. 1300z ....some
interesting tidbits plucked from the
VAF forums (posting
guidelines)
My Flying Bliss ...Brent Owens vid
I must have cabin fever, but I went through about 40
hours of video to get it down to this little 6 minute edit.
The year and half of having my -8 flying has been blissful
indeed! Keep pounding those rivet guys.
...
New RV-10 for the wife!! ...welcome Adam from Mojave, CA
We just received our RV-10 emp/cone kit this week. We
inventoried yesterday and we are setting up the shop to get
started. The wife (Dana) is getting nervous. This will be
our first build and we are going to be looking any helpful
information you folks are willing to offer up .
...
Tommy's -8: Status Updage
RV-9 Status: Complete ...MarkW in Lake Mary, FL
I finished my phase 1 testing a few weeks ago but had not
completed the cowl paint. I have now finished that so I
figured I could finally post here.
RV-8 13B Turbo Rotary makes second flight
Today I made out my second test card. The simple second
flight to assess controlability and let the engine run.
I climbed to 1000 ft. above the pattern, accelerated to 160+
MPH, then reduced power to 120+ MPH. Total flight about 30
minutes of pure bliss. I'm running a Mazda 13B Turbo
engine, approximately a 1988 model. I'm burning 92 Octane
ethanol free unleaded Mogas.
Power passes thru a Tracy Crook RD-1A 2.19:1 reduction
gear with left turning Catto propeller. The only flight
adjustments were mixture to observe and reduce exhaust temp,
and the pitch trim knob. (Oh, and 1/2 flaps for the landing)
This is such an easy plane to fly. I've posted here
about some of my pre-flight engine tribulations and
developement leading up to the first flight.
Now I can reap the rewards of all that work. The RV-8 is
a dream plane. I have a Thorp T-18, which I have enjoyed
tremendously, but I always kept working toward the RV-8
13BT. To those of you building: Keep at it, the feeling of
satisfaction is deep and lasting!
Ross, thanks for the help sizing the Turbo, the engine
behaves very well now. I plan to eventually add an
intercooler as many have advised, but as of today, the
take-off performance is equal to or better than an O-360 w/
fixed pitch prop, so the basic requirement has been met.
Temperatures & pressures all stayed in 'the green'. The
next flight will follow another under cowl inspection, but
right now, no changes are anticipated. To those
requesting video of the first flight; it's pretty shakey,
and some of the side bar conversations about neighbors with
long propellers might not be appropriate.
However, 89SE is actually pretty quiet
RV-4 and the Day the Clouds Stood Still ...Steve Rush video
http://www.baselegaviation.com/ ...Vic Syracuse's new gig
Please Rescue me - and my Motivation ...fl9500 in Germany
Another first try
Had a gorgeous day and time to experiment with the GoPro.
Did three full stops around the pattern, changing camera
position at each and pieced it all back together.
...
Bankstown to Goolwa ...Mark in Sydney, Australia
In October, I took VH-SOL on a 1400km trip from Sydney (Bankstown
YSBK) to near Adelaide (Goolwa YGWA) to have its annual
inspection carried out.
Since travelling in an RV with an empty seat is a crime
punishable by guilt, I asked my Twitter friends whether any
of them would like to come. John-Paul jumped first, so off
we went.
...
Proof of RV Fun ...Vlad
NTSB Issues Five New GA Safety Alerts
Fri Jan 3. 1305z ....some
interesting tidbits plucked from the
VAF forums (posting
guidelines)
Wishing you and yours a happy, safe and RV-filled weekend!
Southern California to Minden - Lake Tahoe...Rosie trip
write-up (6A)
Christmas in Arizona ...Brandi trip write-up (10)
Welcome
VoiceFlight.com
VoiceFlight's
VFSXP1 allows pilots to enter complex Flight Plans into
their GNS-430/530 GPS units in seconds, by Voice or via iPad,
rather the interminable knob twisting required by the
primitive GPS knobs. The VFSXP1 provides the same exact
features as VoiceFlight's field proven, and FAA Certified
VFS101, but does so at a significantly reduced cost for
experimental aircraft.
fmi:
www.VoiceFlight.com
My first flight in 2014 ...tc1234c
Did you get a chance to fly on New Year's Day?
Flying my RV-9A in SoCal - Havasu RV Fly-In ...pmccoy video
Fist flight with new engine ...rvator51
Route Maps ...continued
26th Birthday ...Buzz
My airsled is comin up on her twenty-sixth birthinday,
kit #26...she was built by my friend, Rick Laituri and I
over the coarse of three years and has been a joy...her
fifteen minutes of fame, flyin lead durin takeoff some years
back from Westover Field, Jackson CA, with thee SmokyRay in
his Bandit on her right wing...
RV-4 Panel Upgrade ...tomdubes
I bought my RV-4 in Aug of 2011. It was well equipped
with Advanced Flight Systems AF4500, AF Pilot autopilot, and
AOA Pro with Garmin SL-30Nav/Com and 396. The system
performed flawlessly for two years, and nearly 500 hours of
flying. Every piece of information you could want, is
available at your fingertips, the EFIS moving map, and
geo-referenced approach plates make IFR situational
awareness simple. The AOA pro system with the panel display
is very accurate and makes for simple short field landings,
the base to final turn is safer, at every aircraft loading
scenario, with this system installed.
continue
Mystery doors ...Vlad
Thu Jan 2. 1258z ....some
interesting tidbits plucked from the
VAF forums (posting
guidelines)
Where have you been lately? / Route maps.
(Joe Blank factory
FB post) I got to thinking (perhaps related to the New Year)
about what all of my RV travel routes that I've flown over the years would
look like if I graphically mapped them out. Many pilots are doing single
flight versions using logged GPS data then displayed on Google Earth for
example, but I haven't seen a 'total history' version of this yet.
Thinking that this would be a great builder motivation tool, I 'went simple'
and looked around on the web. Found a JPG map on the internet as a starting
point that I could edit, opened up my logbook and went to work. It was a fun
process revisiting all of those places again and the people I'd flown with
as I drew the approximate course lines across the country from "A" to "B"
and beyond. In my case, I produced 2 maps. One for my RV-6 and then another
version tracking all of the routes I'd flown in the Van's company demo
aircraft.
The version for the Van's demo Aircraft is shown [ed. above]. I've
posted the rest on accompanying
VAF
thread. It would be interesting to see where others have gone too. (Hey
Rosie!)
Let's see where you've gone... Post your trips on this FB link or on the VAF
thread today!
Another fun-filled flyout! ...Rosie
Happy 2014 to our VAF family of friends! We had another
WONDERFUL turnout for out 14th annual New Year's Day Flyout
with 32 RVs flying into Lake Havasu (KHII) :-) There were
several other 'store-bought' planes that flew in to join us
and were welcomed (since they flew in with an RV...you gotta
have RV friends to join us!)
continue
Progress: Bill Bencze RV-7
Greetings and Happy New Year VAF friends,
My baby, N430WB, is proceeding nicely. 2013 saw the completion of the
empennage, including the fiberglass work, and a significant amount of work
on the wings. Frame is complete, tanks built and leak tested, LE riveted on
and the top main skins are cleco'ed on a ready to rivet. Any folks in NorCal
that wants to shoot or buck rivets, let me know. HAF is fog-free this time
of year!
340 hour on the Hobbs so far, including 92 for doing the tanks alone. I'm
real comfortable with pro-seal now.
Here's my lovely assistant and resident wing flip helper showing off our
handiwork:
RV-7
N143JL Paul Kendrick
(snip)...I started building in December 2001 when I was 19 years old. I
was a full time college student, working a full time job, so the build took
a little more than 7 years...more
I got in my Jan 1st flight....
...but kept it short. Winds at 0800 were 54kts at 3,000 ft (below)
and migrating lower by the minute. Quick glance at the EFIS pre-flare
showed 17kts down the centerline when landing. My location at the 'X'.
Logbook total for 2014...... 12 minutes. Spent the rest of the
day mulching the lawn and watching Baylor throw up on their shoes. ;^)
Wed Jan 1. 1259z ....some
interesting tidbits plucked from the
VAF forums (posting
guidelines)
And so begins the sixteenth full year of me
doing RV stuff on the web, nearly half of that full time.
Here's to another sixteen, and hoping you got the day off
today!. Wishing you and yours a very Happy New Year!
(and family)
Sydney Harbour Scenic New Years Eve ...2.5hrs before the
fireworks
First Flight -- N97CU (120587)
Happy to report that N97CU (RV-12) flew this morning for
the first time. All smiles.
First GoPro Video
2nd Annual Mustang Beach (Port Aransas, TX) Shrimp Boil --
4/26/14
Spinning in the New Year
Check it out! Made a video filming from a DRONE! Whole new
perspective
Animated World Winds Map Link
Flying from El Paso to Omaha today? Have I got a
route for you!
You may already know about this. When there, click on
the word 'earth' to change the altitude. You
can zoom in/out in by scrolling your mouse in/out.
Link added to the
weather
page.
December EAA Experimenter Online
200 MPH Club!
New Years Day Fly n Eat (KSEP) ...N.Texas social director Jay Pratt sets the
time/place.
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