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first flight observations from 9855J (long)

JimWoo50

Well Known Member
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.
 
Congratulations!

Jim,

Congratulations on achieving a milestone that many dream about but few achieve. It sounds like your observations and focus are well positioned for a successful completion of your test period.

According to Lycoming, your oil and cht temps are in the acceptable rangej I.E.
CHT green range: 150F to 435F

Fly safe,

Mike
 
A bit of possible help with a 6.

My 6 was right wing heavy. I have the Van's 1" piano hinge electric trim tab on the outboard edge of the right aileron. Even at full trim, the wing was still slightly heavy. I investigated the use of a wedge on the left aileron. At that point, I noticed the left aileron trailing radius was slightly more than the right. I used the "squeeze" method from Vans, on the left aileron. It didn't take much. Now the plane fly's very much in trim, with the electric tab, always close to center. I do like the electric tab for fuel and passenger imbalance...........as I prefer perfect trim.

As to filling in those bumps, there are different ideas on the subject. If air can't get out, the flow will stop from getting in. And you need some flow. I left the rear baggage pannel bumps on my 6 as is. My slider is sealed fairly tight, and only a slight breeze is noticeable over the passengers head. The heat works quite well, and airflow in the summer is very good, but can still get warm, yet not enough to worry about A/C.

As to floor vibration, make sure you installed the brackets between the floor runners (or what ever they're called) and the main spar bulkhead. I know someone that initially didn't, and it vibrated a lot. Mine never has.

I do use good ANR headphones. Only my floor is insulated, which I did about a year after the first flight. Otherwise, it's much to loud, especially for any conversation. The ANRs make it pleasant, even for XM stereo radio.

Have fun!

L.Adamson
 
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.

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.

Congratulations Jim!

The correct way to solve your air leakage is to seal the paths that air is flowing out. This is typically along the sides and back of the canopy because their is a low pressure area on the outside surfaces at these locations. If you solve it this way and leave the openings in the baggage bulkhead alone, then there is a flow path for heater or vent air (if you are flowing air, there has to be a path to complete the circuit).
Pieces of Kleenex are great for finding air leaks. Move it around the cockpit an find places that it is sucked out. Seal up those places and you will have a much warmer cockpit.

CLICK HERE for help with your roll trim issue.
 
Congratulations on your efforts Jim!
I'm curious how you achieved such a nice low empty weight (it is one of my goals for my 6 to keep the weight down), would you care to comment on your panel/prop/prime or not/anything else to share how you did this? Also where did the empty c of g end up?
Thanks,
Craig
 
Great work Jim!

What a light -6 and I'm sure it is a delight to fly!

I installed the boots that block air from coming in the aileron push tube holes and that helps a LOT!

Like LA, I have floor insulation and very thin carpet and my floor does not drum, as you described.

Enjoy the 40! It just keeps on getting better and better!
 
How I kept the weight low

A couple of builders asked how I kept my RV-6 weight to 975lbs. I think that by defining what capabilities I expected in the aircraft early in the build helped me control the weight. I want to fly aerobatics and at the same time have no desire to fly IFR or any "hard" night flight. I am a handheld GPS and sectional chart navigator and my only comm radio is a handheld. So as a consequence of not having IFR capability I eliminated the vacuum system and avionics required for that. And the aircraft is only equipped with the minimum nav lights and a landing light for night flight. I will be installing a transponder soon though and that will add 3lbs or so.

I also decided that interior panels and carpeting were unnecessary so my plane has bare unprimed aluminum inside walls. I did prime the wing ribs and the fuselage bulkheads but thats about all. And also bear in mind that I am as yet unpainted so that will weigh 40 lbs or so. My goal was a 1050lb airplane so I could take half tanks and go up solo and do aerobatics while staying below the 1375 lb limit for aerobatics.

So I believe that by defining the mission early in the build and sticking to my goal were more relevant to my light plane than any particular construction techniques or prime or not decisions. I think my plane is light because of what I didn't put in it as opposed to how I built it.

My cg is 69.12 inches. There is a video on you tube of my 1st engine start just seach on Jim Woolard and you can see it I think. As soon as I can I will post pics.
 
A couple of builders asked how I kept my RV-6 weight to 975lbs. I think that by defining what capabilities I expected in the aircraft early in the build helped me control the weight. I want to fly aerobatics and at the same time have no desire to fly IFR or any "hard" night flight. I am a handheld GPS and sectional chart navigator and my only comm radio is a handheld. So as a consequence of not having IFR capability I eliminated the vacuum system and avionics required for that. And the aircraft is only equipped with the minimum nav lights and a landing light for night flight. I will be installing a transponder soon though and that will add 3lbs or so.

I also decided that interior panels and carpeting were unnecessary so my plane has bare unprimed aluminum inside walls. I did prime the wing ribs and the fuselage bulkheads but thats about all. And also bear in mind that I am as yet unpainted so that will weigh 40 lbs or so. My goal was a 1050lb airplane so I could take half tanks and go up solo and do aerobatics while staying below the 1375 lb limit for aerobatics.

So I believe that by defining the mission early in the build and sticking to my goal were more relevant to my light plane than any particular construction techniques or prime or not decisions. I think my plane is light because of what I didn't put in it as opposed to how I built it.

My cg is 69.12 inches. There is a video on you tube of my 1st engine start just seach on Jim Woolard and you can see it I think. As soon as I can I will post pics.

Congrats on the light weight airplane and flying it so successfully.

Handheld GPS and sectional charts - they will get you where you want to go - I just did the Missouri/Oregon via California trip as such. I don't know about operating with a hand held radio, I had one for backup but it is of limited value in the high noise environment of the RV. Sometimes you need clear communication capabilities, especially when working with FAA controllers and VFR flight following.

Again, congrats on building and flying the RV-6.
 
Thanks for the weight and balance information, a good case study on keeping it simple. Very impressed.
 
handheld radio

For over 20 years I have used a handheld radio wired to my wing antenna as my sole comm. Never had a problem with my old Icom and now moved to a new Vertex (sp?) handheld. It was less than half the price of my old Icom and one third of the size and so far so good! Always used a headset; the old Icom required a fifty dollar adapter but the vertex didn't. I am very impressed with the $170 Vertex so far.
 
Jim in your video it's hard to tell what propellor you have, I think it's a fixed pitch metal prop but not certain? Is your engine a dynafocal or conical mount?
You mentioned you would post pics when you get the chance, if you have one of the panel it would be good to see what you have and don't have.
Thanks for taking the time to answer questions, it seems your objectives with your aeroplane are similar to mine hence the interest!
 
For over 20 years I have used a handheld radio wired to my wing antenna as my sole comm. Never had a problem with my old Icom and now moved to a new Vertex (sp?) handheld. It was less than half the price of my old Icom and one third of the size and so far so good! Always used a headset; the old Icom required a fifty dollar adapter but the vertex didn't. I am very impressed with the $170 Vertex so far.

Ditto this. I've used my new Vertex handheld 20 miles out, with just the attached antenna.
 
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