VAF POSTS & RV NEWS THAT CAUGHT MY EYE.....dr:
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-12 Grin ...MrConclusion's first post
Hello everyone! Long time reader of this forum but this is my first post.
vansairforce.net
From the Weekend Thread
Nice one hour flight in calm 30 degree air, still plenty of snow over 6000' in Northern AZ.
vansairforce.net
RV7Heaven Shows Us His RV-7
I just got my RV-7 back from paint. Couldn't be happier with the job that Mark at Glo Aircraft Painting did.
www.vansairforce.net
GAD-27 Wig-Wag Switchology
Terry Shortt Wig Wag PIREP
Funny that this came up just now. I've had my ship side wiring done for ages but just finished attaching everything in the wings this week.
My landing and taxi lights are controlled by two 3 position toggles.
switch 1
1- Off (down)
2- Landing on
3- Landing wigwag
switch 2
1- Off (down)
2- Taxi on
3- Taxi on plus strobe wigwag or strobe flood (depending on which version of the FlyLED controller board you have)
All of that is run through the GAD27 with the exception of position 3 on the taxi switch which also energizes pin 9 on the FlyLED board to get the extra strobe function.
I set up the landing lights like that because it's basically how they are set up in all the Cessnas I fly. Not really any strong feelings that it's better or worse than just having a simple on/off switch and letting the GAD27 do its wigwag thing without me intervening.
My reasoning for two switches is that I didn't want one wiring or switch fault to take out all my lighting. I can land just fine with no landing lights but it's a hassle to taxi that way.
Here's a gratuitous pic. of everything turned on for the ops check last night. Love those FlyLEDs!
vansairforce.net
RV-4 #4175 Fastback Conversion... PIREP
Not much progress, but I did get the parts from HR in. Went in to the hangar to start removing all the trim so I can get the wings and tail feathers off. Found some damage in the skin where the empennage fairing wore through the skin. Good thing it's the skin that I'm replacing anyway. Also stuck the front bulkhead on for a quick mock up although at the wrong angle from hitting the existing one. Still gives me some motivation. Otherwise, got some quick wing stands built and mostly built the Vans practice kit I had laying around. You can see some bad riveting in the reflections. The 3x gun I picked up has no teasing ability in the trigger. I've got a better one on order. Hoping to move it to the other hangar in the next week or 2 and then I can get to drilling rivets out.
vansairforce.net
DIY Engine dehumidifier purge pump ...MacCool PIREP
I actually use 15 lbs of desiccant in the chamber. They come in 7.5 lb containers so I use two at time. Depending on ambient relative humidity, they last about 2-3 months. Longer in the winter, shorter in the summer. The stuff turns pink when is reaches saturation, and as it turns pinker I see the humidity in the desiccant chamber go up. I have two additional containers of dessicant, so when the 15 lbs in the chamber turns pink, I pour it out, replace it with the other 15 lbs, and take the pink stuff home to cook in the oven. I put it in a roasting pan at 250°F for about two hours, stir it every so often, and it turns it back to blue. The desiccant I have now has held up fine in this routine for the last 3 years. I use that much (15lbs at a time) so that I don't have to change it out as often. My wife has actually taken over that cooking job, based on her observation that I tend to spill silica beads around the kitchen. Those little suckers do escape quite readily and then bounce a long way on the tile floor of the kitchen. (I've also tried to demonstrate that I don't know how a vacuum cleaner works, but she isn't falling for that one).
I do note that when I was using a higher volume aquarium pump (350 gph) as air source, I had to change the silica more frequently. The one I use now is about 250 gph and is adjustable for output. I don't think it takes a high rate of airflow to do the job.
Mine pumps air in from the bottom through an aquarium stone as filter to keep beads out of the tubing (which is a pain). I don't have a HEPA filter on the output tubing...good idea but I haven't gotten around to it. I see there are several such inline HEPA filters on Amazon, so I guess I'll get some. I will say that in the five Blackstone reports I have since using this thing, no report of silica has come up despite the fact that it is pumping this air directly in through the oil dipstick tube.
vansairforce.net
T-style parking brake control handle?
I found a photo for you Gene... sorry its a little blurry but you can see the location I have mine. Its not in the way at all during operations and I use it during run-ups and when parking all the time.
vansairforce.net
Fairing PIREP ...nohoflyer
I finally finished mine!
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-12 Grin ...MrConclusion's first post
Hello everyone! Long time reader of this forum but this is my first post.
Rv12 Grin
Hello everyone! Long time reader of this forum but this is my first post. Currently, I'm in the home stretch for Sport Pilot in my flight school's RV12 SLSA's. Photo is right after landing my first solo a few months ago.
vansairforce.net
From the Weekend Thread
Nice one hour flight in calm 30 degree air, still plenty of snow over 6000' in Northern AZ.
What did you do with your RV this weekend? (2.10-11.2024)
...getting this weekend's thread started. Raining here in DFW (and I'm studying BE300 limitations anyway). Ugh. . Post some RV activities going on to motivate me !!!! I miss my RV (I think it's pissed at me). v/r,dr PS: I'm spending Saturday tweaking my King Air 350 W&B spreadsheet for my...
vansairforce.net
RV7Heaven Shows Us His RV-7
I just got my RV-7 back from paint. Couldn't be happier with the job that Mark at Glo Aircraft Painting did.
Show us a pic of your FINISHED RV-7/7A!!!
Thanks to all for the kind words, the second flight was today with fewer nerves and just as much fun! I’m really happy with the performance. We are lucky to have the opportunity to build and fly these machines. To those building keep at it, it’s more than you expect! Second takeoff...
www.vansairforce.net
GAD-27 Wig-Wag Switchology
Terry Shortt Wig Wag PIREP
Funny that this came up just now. I've had my ship side wiring done for ages but just finished attaching everything in the wings this week.
My landing and taxi lights are controlled by two 3 position toggles.
switch 1
1- Off (down)
2- Landing on
3- Landing wigwag
switch 2
1- Off (down)
2- Taxi on
3- Taxi on plus strobe wigwag or strobe flood (depending on which version of the FlyLED controller board you have)
All of that is run through the GAD27 with the exception of position 3 on the taxi switch which also energizes pin 9 on the FlyLED board to get the extra strobe function.
I set up the landing lights like that because it's basically how they are set up in all the Cessnas I fly. Not really any strong feelings that it's better or worse than just having a simple on/off switch and letting the GAD27 do its wigwag thing without me intervening.
My reasoning for two switches is that I didn't want one wiring or switch fault to take out all my lighting. I can land just fine with no landing lights but it's a hassle to taxi that way.
Here's a gratuitous pic. of everything turned on for the ops check last night. Love those FlyLEDs!
GAD-27 Wig-Wag Switchology
I've got to finalize my panel switch layout and my brain is starting to hurt contemplating the options. The light fixtures are two FlyLEDs Seven Stars units, one in each wing. These lights have separate power inputs to illuminate all seven LEDs in landing light mode or only the center LED in...
vansairforce.net
RV-4 #4175 Fastback Conversion... PIREP
Not much progress, but I did get the parts from HR in. Went in to the hangar to start removing all the trim so I can get the wings and tail feathers off. Found some damage in the skin where the empennage fairing wore through the skin. Good thing it's the skin that I'm replacing anyway. Also stuck the front bulkhead on for a quick mock up although at the wrong angle from hitting the existing one. Still gives me some motivation. Otherwise, got some quick wing stands built and mostly built the Vans practice kit I had laying around. You can see some bad riveting in the reflections. The 3x gun I picked up has no teasing ability in the trigger. I've got a better one on order. Hoping to move it to the other hangar in the next week or 2 and then I can get to drilling rivets out.
RV-4 #4175 Fastback Conversion
My 4 is down for a bit for a several little projects, like elevator reskinning due to some cracking, adding a light to the tail, possibly electric trim, fiberglass repair due to some less than perfect fits over the years, etc. While it's down, I decided to make it way worse for time and money...
vansairforce.net
DIY Engine dehumidifier purge pump ...MacCool PIREP
I actually use 15 lbs of desiccant in the chamber. They come in 7.5 lb containers so I use two at time. Depending on ambient relative humidity, they last about 2-3 months. Longer in the winter, shorter in the summer. The stuff turns pink when is reaches saturation, and as it turns pinker I see the humidity in the desiccant chamber go up. I have two additional containers of dessicant, so when the 15 lbs in the chamber turns pink, I pour it out, replace it with the other 15 lbs, and take the pink stuff home to cook in the oven. I put it in a roasting pan at 250°F for about two hours, stir it every so often, and it turns it back to blue. The desiccant I have now has held up fine in this routine for the last 3 years. I use that much (15lbs at a time) so that I don't have to change it out as often. My wife has actually taken over that cooking job, based on her observation that I tend to spill silica beads around the kitchen. Those little suckers do escape quite readily and then bounce a long way on the tile floor of the kitchen. (I've also tried to demonstrate that I don't know how a vacuum cleaner works, but she isn't falling for that one).
I do note that when I was using a higher volume aquarium pump (350 gph) as air source, I had to change the silica more frequently. The one I use now is about 250 gph and is adjustable for output. I don't think it takes a high rate of airflow to do the job.
Mine pumps air in from the bottom through an aquarium stone as filter to keep beads out of the tubing (which is a pain). I don't have a HEPA filter on the output tubing...good idea but I haven't gotten around to it. I see there are several such inline HEPA filters on Amazon, so I guess I'll get some. I will say that in the five Blackstone reports I have since using this thing, no report of silica has come up despite the fact that it is pumping this air directly in through the oil dipstick tube.
DIY Engine dehumidifier purge pump
I found this air mattress pump on Amazon that’s snaps perfectly into the blue oil fill snorkel that comes with Phillips oil. I run it for about 5 minutes after flying to displace all the steam that outgasses from the oil with ambient air. It only make half a psi but moves a lot of air that blows...
vansairforce.net
T-style parking brake control handle?
I found a photo for you Gene... sorry its a little blurry but you can see the location I have mine. Its not in the way at all during operations and I use it during run-ups and when parking all the time.
T-style parking brake control handle?
Hello collective brains of the RV community. I'm building a 7. Back in the 90's I built a -6A and recall having several occasions where I regretted not installing a parking brake valve. In an effort to not repeat history I'm considering a Matco PVPV-D parking brake valve. For weeks now I've read...
vansairforce.net
Fairing PIREP ...nohoflyer
I finally finished mine!
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