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New toy

thunder669

Active Member
So my wife and I decided to sell our ultimate tool (Piper Comanche 260) and buy the ultimate toy (RV-4). We ended up buying N213WT an RV-4 with 180 hp O360 and FP metal prop. you can tell she was definitely built right, but is showing some wear and outdated from when it was finished in 1993. I plan to fly it into winter and then take it offline for a major refurb and complete paint. since the original cowl has numerous cracks I decided this is definitely the time to replace it with a sleek Sam James cowl and plenum. I am on their waiting list but unfortunately they are saying it could be up to 6 months, obviously you guys really like their products. That'll push the paint back to spring but with what we have in mind it should really be worth it. This makes atleast 7 RV's in our local EAA chapter, several built and several bought, but the number is growing. Looking forward to meeting more of you in person

Jake
RV4.jpg
 
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Congratulations, Jake and Mrs. Jake! Given that backlog, I'd say put the paint off to next winter, no one cares about a 'weathered' RV! Enjoy what you have, and I am sure you will come up with plenty of other things to improve in the next year, making the downtime even more effective.
 
Fit your SJ cowl first then fit the plenum.

You might want to start with a new baffle set rather than use the old baffles.

Either way, you want to set your plenum as high off the cylinders as possible. That will give the incoming air a chance to slow down before passing by the cylinders and will maximize the cooling.
 
thanks for posting the pic, not sure what i did wrong there. I will definitely be moving forward with other upgrades over the winter, if not sooner. Hopefully the cowl will be done sooner then quoted, but if not i do have lots of other things to keep me busy. change over to full LED. and being in Michigan and try to fly year round need to add cabin heat and the wife has requested heated seats. Also a panel redo that deletes the vacuum system.
 
Congratulations Jake. You’re going to love flying the RV4. I also recently bought one that sounds similar to yours - O-360/fixed pitch Sensenich. I’m in to mods on mine as well, the biggest being an instrument panel upgrade (still VFR) to be done late fall/winter. My friends that see mine for the first time say “when are you going to paint it?” It is painted, but in that olive green color that looks like primer. Not my favorite color by a long shot, but the builder did a decent job of painting and it’s in good shape, so I’m learning to love it.

I’m not far from you - Cincinnati. My wife and I are both from Michigan and fly to see friends and family frequently - and to our favorite place in the world - Beautiful Charlevoix!
Welcome to the group......
 
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Congratulations Jake. You?re going to love flying the RV4. I also recently bought one that sounds similar to yours - O-360/fixed pitch Sensenich. I?m in to mods on mine as well, the biggest being an instrument panel upgrade (still VFR) to be done late fall/winter. My friends that see mine for the first time say ?when are you going to paint it?? It is painted, but in that olive green color that looks like primer. Not my favorite color by a long shot, but the builder did a decent job of painting and it?s in good shape, so I?m learning to love it.

I?m not far from you - Cincinnati. My wife and I are both from Michigan and fly to see friends and family frequently - and to our favorite place in the world - Beautiful Charlevoix!
Welcome to the group......

Nice, we have a group of 6 or more RVs in our EAA chapter and often do group flyouts for food. that's another reason for the 4, it fits in the formation better, lol. I'm sure we will run into each other at one of these events before long
 
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