adopted RV-6A

I have recently taken over unmothballing a 6-A. This plane is nearly complete. aside from a few fairing sandings, seatbelts, and empanage fairing installation, this gal is good to go. she has an IO-360-bIE, with 0 hours. a custom Bernie wernike (think thats right) prop. complete IFR panel.this was a paid for build by a local physician that lost a desire to fly following some personal tragedy. Anyway, heres the kicker. He lost the desire after engine install, 12 years ago! the plane has been sitting, hangared, with a bi-weekly hand propping and airframe dusting. the canopy had not been opened this entire time. After consulting a few A&P's who found no reason not to flush it with fuel and crank her over, I did. Happily it ran after one revolution and continues to do so. I find no rot or corrosion anywhere. both the magneto and the CDI work great. any suggestions of things to look for that may be problem areas before finally getting this plane buttoned up and inspected? I admit that I have been taxiing her for several hours now without any squawks. Any input will be helpful
heres the start of 914C ' web page http://webpages.charter.net/db.kelley/my_adopted_rv1.htm

Thanks
Dan K RV6-A N914C

The photos of the plane look as though it is in good shape.

The only point I would make is that there was a SB to replace the nose wheel leg with an improved version. Also the design off the fairing on the nose wheel leg has been changed. I would recommend you contact Vans about this and make these changes as soon as is convenient.

Barry

thanks Barry

Thanks for the response. I will give Vans a call this week.

It's not worth the trouble

I have "eggs" on the mains and the earlier flat sided nose faring because that was what was available when I bought mine. The plane is fast as a scalded cat. The local folks at Van's tell me that they make changes in an effort to produce better performance and the changes often make no difference in performance. I was told this by folks with inside knowledge on the wingtip testing specifically - there was no difference. I do not have specific input on the nose wheel fairing test results but it is going to be a little hard to justify concern for performance if you go to the expense of buying an "egg" for the nose wheel then cut the outragous towbar holes in the side. It's your money but I can vouch for the effectiveness of the old nosewheel fairing.

Bob Axsom

Things I would check

Things I would check before flying.

1 - Check the CG - my guess is it will be a little forward of the nominal location called out in the plans book (I'm sure you got that in the deal).

2 - Level the canopy deck and check the wing and tail incidence angles.

3 - Remove the seat floor, tail fairing, the small fuselage side plate under the left horizontal stabilizer and the inspection plates under both wings and make sure the fastener hardware is properly installed mounting the flying surfaces and the controls.

4 - Check the trim tab installation and function and the up-down direction marking in the cockpit is present and correct.

5 - The engine installation needs to be gone over carefully especially since it is not the typical O-360-A1A. What I can see in the photos makes it appear very good and complete. The heater installation looks a little unusual but I'm sure it is because of the congestion aft of the engine - three things there I would check here are (1) clearance between the heat muff and the cowl, (2) the condition of the control box duct tubes (mine were tack welded at four points and literally fell apart - I repaired them by riveting small angle segments to the box body and the duct tube) and (3) where is the heat being dumped out of the control box when the heater is off (I ran a red duct down to the cowl outlet to dump it overboard). I would study the installation to make sure I understood every thing about it and how it works.

6 - Jack up the front of the plane and check the breakout force of the castering nose gear. My book calls for 23 pounds and when it is right it is very good but if it is lower it will shake like a wet dog and make you think the tire is flat. By the way, the nut on the bottom of the nose gear strut that controls the breakout force has to be retorqued occasionally - it will tell you when.

7 - It wouldn't hurt to make sure the builder installed the control stops and the control limits are correct.

Just an impression from looking at the photos, it looks like the builder lavished a lot of care in the building of the plane and I feel there is a sad story behind the situation.

Bob Axsom