Have made 5 flights in my 0-320 powered, 975 lb, RV-6 so far and after some initial ground control issues caused by me I am pleased to report that every flight is getting better! The biggest difference for me is the speed. I'm used to flying along at 100kts in my 172 (now for sale) and my 160 to 170 kts in the 6 are enough to make me smile. I noticed yesterday that I was actually catching up to and passing traffic! I am breaking in new chrome cylinders and am keeping no less than 2300 rpm on the tach and am in the yellow airspeed arc constantly; I can see where a moments inattention along with inadvertently easing the nose over would have me very close to Vne.
At first I had the breather line on the front of the engine and filled it to the full 8 qts of 40w mineral oil. Big mistake. 3 qts shot out of there in 2 hrs or so and I have learned that 5 qts is adequate for the engine and repositioning the breather to the accessory case location has hopefully ended my excessive oil wastage. Yesterday I flew .8 and used only a minimum amount of oil.
My cht and oil temperature are very low with cht at 275 and oil temperature 150. Im somewhat concerned that these low temps will delay the proper seating of the piston rings in my chrome cylindered engine. And that low oil temperature is with the oil cooler completely blocked off. Also I attached a Kat 150w sump pad heater and after only a half hour of using it noticed that the whole engine compartment was warmed and my oil temp started to rise immediately after starting the engine.
The airplane is easy to fly. I'm very pleased at the ease with which I am able to hold heading and altitude. Even with a slightly heavy pilots side wing I am able to comfortably cruise along and enjoy the experience. As for the heavy wing I'm not inclined to take any action immediately but eventually I will probably need a trim tab.
The aircraft is loud. I haven't upgraded my headsets yet and hopefully new headsets will help but for now I have to remember the earplugs. And drafty. It seems that there is a torrent of air coming from behind the baggage bulkhead; from under the bumps formed in the material. I will have to seal them off soon as its going to get cold here in the Chicago area soon. And with my low cht and overall low engine temps my heater is not that effective. I may need a blanket to go with the earplugs!
I have not done any airwork or stalls yet so I'm using 75kts for an approach speed and next time I may reduce it to 70kts because I have been floating and bouncing through my landings. As soon as I get some sort of indication that the piston rings have seated and the engine will tolerate throttle jockeying and the accompanying heating and cooling I will find out stall speeds and settle on a more precise approach speed.
I experimented with leaning the mixture yesterday and noticed that the floor vibration fluctuated with adjustments to the mixture.
I have so many people to thank for helping me during the 13 year build. Lots of guys on this forum helped me immeasurably without ever knowing it. Little things like using the 7mm washers inside the brackets for the Crow restraint systems to big things like using nutplates in place of hinges for the cowl attachment. This forum and the posters on here helped make my plane better and I do appreciate it.
At first I had the breather line on the front of the engine and filled it to the full 8 qts of 40w mineral oil. Big mistake. 3 qts shot out of there in 2 hrs or so and I have learned that 5 qts is adequate for the engine and repositioning the breather to the accessory case location has hopefully ended my excessive oil wastage. Yesterday I flew .8 and used only a minimum amount of oil.
My cht and oil temperature are very low with cht at 275 and oil temperature 150. Im somewhat concerned that these low temps will delay the proper seating of the piston rings in my chrome cylindered engine. And that low oil temperature is with the oil cooler completely blocked off. Also I attached a Kat 150w sump pad heater and after only a half hour of using it noticed that the whole engine compartment was warmed and my oil temp started to rise immediately after starting the engine.
The airplane is easy to fly. I'm very pleased at the ease with which I am able to hold heading and altitude. Even with a slightly heavy pilots side wing I am able to comfortably cruise along and enjoy the experience. As for the heavy wing I'm not inclined to take any action immediately but eventually I will probably need a trim tab.
The aircraft is loud. I haven't upgraded my headsets yet and hopefully new headsets will help but for now I have to remember the earplugs. And drafty. It seems that there is a torrent of air coming from behind the baggage bulkhead; from under the bumps formed in the material. I will have to seal them off soon as its going to get cold here in the Chicago area soon. And with my low cht and overall low engine temps my heater is not that effective. I may need a blanket to go with the earplugs!
I have not done any airwork or stalls yet so I'm using 75kts for an approach speed and next time I may reduce it to 70kts because I have been floating and bouncing through my landings. As soon as I get some sort of indication that the piston rings have seated and the engine will tolerate throttle jockeying and the accompanying heating and cooling I will find out stall speeds and settle on a more precise approach speed.
I experimented with leaning the mixture yesterday and noticed that the floor vibration fluctuated with adjustments to the mixture.
I have so many people to thank for helping me during the 13 year build. Lots of guys on this forum helped me immeasurably without ever knowing it. Little things like using the 7mm washers inside the brackets for the Crow restraint systems to big things like using nutplates in place of hinges for the cowl attachment. This forum and the posters on here helped make my plane better and I do appreciate it.