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First Condition Inspection

Weasel

Well Known Member
So it is already time to do the conditional inspection for the first time.

A few things that am including is upgrading the main wheel pant brackets with Sean's RV-10 bracket supports. They worked loose about 1/2 way through the year (150 hrs or so) and now on of them is loose again. (280+ hrs).

I had to replace the original NGK standard plugs so I went ahead and got the iridium plugs so they should last a lot longer. The original set looks like they should have been changed several oil changes ago.

The oil filter was very clean. I hope it stays that way.

Compression was 77/80 on the lowest one and did a bore scope inspection on all cyl's. I have never done that before but all the valves looked great and the cyl walls still have nice hone marks in them.

I rotated the main tires at 200hrs or so and they look like they should make another 200 hrs.

Taking the seats out for access is kind of a pain but it can be managed.

20130320_171743.jpg

20130320_171755.jpg

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I built a 7 and am not familiar enough with the 10. It looks like the first photo is looking aft into the fuselage behind the baggage bulkhead. What is the thing that looks like a carbon fiber tank with what looks like a differential pressure tester hooked up to it?

Congrats on you 1rst conditional inspection and your 280 hrs in one year!
 
So it is already time to do the conditional inspection for the first time.

A few things that am including is upgrading the main wheel pant brackets with Sean's RV-10 bracket supports. They worked loose about 1/2 way through the year (150 hrs or so) and now on of them is loose again. (280+ hrs).

I had to replace the original NGK standard plugs so I went ahead and got the iridium plugs so they should last a lot longer. The original set looks like they should have been changed several oil changes ago.

The oil filter was very clean. I hope it stays that way.

Compression was 77/80 on the lowest one and did a bore scope inspection on all cyl's. I have never done that before but all the valves looked great and the cyl walls still have nice hone marks in them.

I rotated the main tires at 200hrs or so and they look like they should make another 200 hrs.

Taking the seats out for access is kind of a pain but it can be managed.

I built a 7 and am not familiar enough with the 10. It looks like the first photo is looking aft into the fuselage behind the baggage bulkhead. What is the thing that looks like a carbon fiber tank with what looks like a differential pressure tester hooked up to it?

Congrats on you 1rst conditional inspection and your 280 hrs in one year!


Condition......condition........it is a Condition Inspection. :)

(As in "This aircraft is in a safe condition for flight...")
 
Condition......condition........it is a Condition Inspection. :)

(As in "This aircraft is in a safe condition for flight...")

Looks like I am not the only one that is bugged by incorrect terminology.

All the FAA paperwork and Operating Limitations that I have seen says that a "Condition Inspection" is required every 12-calendar months.

I know the FAA wants the correct terminology written in the log or they do not recognize that the once a year condition inspection was completed.
 
looks like he's doing air-conditioner check so blackbox part of air-conditioner wonderful if you live in the South. I live in S. FL so one of the best add ons I did.
I built a 7 and am not familiar enough with the 10. It looks like the first photo is looking aft into the fuselage behind the baggage bulkhead. What is the thing that looks like a carbon fiber tank with what looks like a differential pressure tester hooked up to it?

Congrats on you 1rst conditional inspection and your 280 hrs in one year!
 
Nice!

Looking good Weasel! You sure get good use out of yours, I'm jealous. Mine starts its inspection this weekend, bet I've got a longer list of updates/fixes/squawks than you!

Didn't think I'd need to check my AC system pressure though, did you have an issue or is that a recommended check?

Dwight
 
Sadly...

It's not totally fixed. Believe it or not, the FAA Flight Standards guidance says:

"...5-1218 GENERAL. Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) part 65, ? 65.104 says the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issues Repairman Experimental Aircraft certificates for individual builders of aircraft certificated under the 14 CFR part 21 experimental category for the purpose of performing conditional inspections . ..." (See http://fsims.faa.gov/PICDetail.aspx?docId=908658F5BC14036386257689004B8F08)

I wonder why it's so hard to ... never mind.

Dan
 
Sadly...

It's not totally fixed. Believe it or not, the FAA Flight Standards guidance says:

"...5-1218 GENERAL. Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) part 65, § 65.104 says the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issues Repairman Experimental Aircraft certificates for individual builders of aircraft certificated under the 14 CFR part 21 experimental category for the purpose of performing conditional inspections . ..." (See http://fsims.faa.gov/PICDetail.aspx?docId=908658F5BC14036386257689004B8F08)

I wonder why it's so hard to ... never mind.

Dan

You gotta be kidding.........
 
You gotta be kidding.........

W A R N I N G - read the FSIMS (Flight Standards Information Management System) at your own risk! (http://fsims.faa.gov/PICResults.aspx?mode=EBookContents)

This where they put all the guidance - that no one reads before shooting from the hip and even if they did, sometimes it's not correct to begin with.

Want to have some fun with one of your friends who might be a FSDO person?

Pick some rather obscure issue (such as issuance of airworthiness certificates, airman certificates - you know, the stuff they almost never do), research it in FSIMS, and when talking sometime and they go off the reservation, begin speaking about what order 8900 requires (you'll be happy to send the cite) and watch how fast the subject changes to weather.

Want to feel a little on edge? - see http://fsims.faa.gov/PICDetail.aspx?docId=A24DF72053D87BDF8525734F00766695 or http://fsims.faa.gov/PICDetail.aspx?docId=B31EC5608DF9D7798525734F00766694 . Trouble sleeping - just pull up http://fsims.faa.gov/PICDetail.aspx?docId=3C1F8F2482F541028525734F0076670D .

Yes - I was kidding. And, the weather tomorrow will be 75, blue sky and light spring breezes (somewhere).

Dan
 
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Looking good Weasel! You sure get good use out of yours, I'm jealous. Mine starts its inspection this weekend, bet I've got a longer list of updates/fixes/squawks than you!

Didn't think I'd need to check my AC system pressure though, did you have an issue or is that a recommended check?

Dwight

I changed one of the ends on a line and then re-charged the system but to answer your question I did put it on my hand written notes to add to my inspection checklist for next year.
 
I built a 7 and am not familiar enough with the 10. It looks like the first photo is looking aft into the fuselage behind the baggage bulkhead. What is the thing that looks like a carbon fiber tank with what looks like a differential pressure tester hooked up to it?

Congrats on you 1rst conditional inspection and your 280 hrs in one year!

It is an air conditioner. The carbon fiber piece is an air duct for the condenser air and also encloses the condenser fan.
 
I would not recommend connecting refrigerant gauges unless you suspect a problem. Everytime you connect them you will lose some refrigerant. Same on your home HVAC. There are other ways to check for proper operation. When I install a new system I note all temp/humiditiy/electrical/pressure data at start up. This comes in handy for any future maintenance/troubleshooting. The same on every electrical component on my RV.

I would recommend the following for A/C:

1. Clean both coils and condensate drain.
2. Check belt tension.
3. Check refrigerant charge only when OAT is 70F or higher.
4. Check sight glass for bubbles.
5. Compare present data to initial start-up data.
6. If you suspect a problem, then connect gauges and troubleshoot further.
 
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