RV-10 UPGRADES NEEDED input please

[Jt rotor guy]

I am about to start a builder Assist build on an RV-10. I am looking for must have upgrades people have found over the years. Things Vans could have done better or did not ever include. Please include engine setup and avionics. I am open minded and trying to see what works for me. I have seen some upgrades but would like to have a lot more options.... Looking to build the best plane I can.

[Mike S]

Machined flex tube mounts for the elevator trim. Install them with screws not rivets, nutplate riveted to the mount. Dimple cover and C/S the mount and use flat head screws.

Plane Around center door latch, and their wheel pant mount spacers for the main wheels. Their door pin setup is nice also.

Matco front axle.

I think Vans has upgraded the main wheel pant outer mount, if not go aftermarket on this.

[BobTurner]

Originally Posted by Jt rotor guy

I am about to start a builder Assist build on an RV-10. I am looking for must have upgrades people have found over the years. Things Vans could have done better or did not ever include. Please include engine setup and avionics. I am open minded and trying to see what works for me. I have seen some upgrades but would like to have a lot more options.... Looking to build the best plane I can.

I personally dislike the phrase ‘must have upgrades’, as there really are no such things. Van’s demonstrator aircraft are ‘stock’, and they fly. I know, you are asking for worthwhile changes. These are always in the eye of the beholder, balancing function and looks against cost and weight. That said, Mike’s list is a good starting point. (He’s correct, the main gear outboard fairing supports have been upgraded by Vans). My opinions follow:
Interior: if you are married or in a committed relationship, ask your significant other her opinion of various options. Do whatever she says!
Engine: Your choices run from finding a good used engine (not easy) to a ‘standard’ IO540 (Vans probably offers the best price here especially if bundled with a new prop) to a custom engine re-builder with higher compression pistons, port and polish, etc. It’s your money.
Avionics. Here is where individual choices are all over the place. Vfr or ifr? If ifr, how much redundancy do you want to feel comfortable (answers range from ‘none’ to dual battery, dual alternator, three attitude sources, independent gps and vhf nav, etc)? The FAA does not count avionics in the 51% rule, so your choices run from a custom designed, ‘plug and play’ panel, to one where you buy (or build!) individual components and do the wiring yourself. So the answer depends on what you want to do, your financial and time situation, etc. Warning: if you ask, you’ll get lots of replies as to how to spend your money! Good luck - I thought thinking about all these things was half the fun.

[MElstien]

I am still building.


Here are the upgrades I would consider extremely beneficial and I did add
Access panels in tunel 1 or 1 on each side.
Fly LED light kit
PH Aviation Flap Motor
Solid billet elevator trim cable angle brackets (mentioned earlier)
Stainless Heater vent boxes on firewall
Plane-around door latch with SS angles pins
Firewall sandwich of FiberFrax 1/8 felt and SS foil


I did other upgrades as well but some were cosmetic like the Control approach Rudder pedals, some were for improved performance and weight savings like the full Beringer brake and wheel package. Some were for extreme safety like titanium belly fire shield I made and SS hoses from fuel and brakes from Aircraft Specialty .


Its your plane, do what you want. Every change adds time, usually adds weights and costs and some changes may negatively impact resale.

Enjoy.

[tom_AZ]

…Are you sure you don’t want to also ask which primer you should use?

I suspect this will quickly grow to a similarly long debste/discussion. Lots of opinions, many based on logic, some simply on preference. All are worth considering, but pursue most only after careful consideration. All upgrades add time to the build, add cost, and at least most add weight. A few of my thoughts, with a focus on simple and relatively inexpensive upgrades, in no particular order. None are new, or brilliantly insightful, and I’m sure I’m forgetting a bunch of them. Search VAF for discussion strings on many of them.

+1 for the upgraded door latch. I would not even consider skipping this one. Having that visibly engaged cam is a must for me. Losing a door in flight could make for a very bad day.

Door locks. There’s a flush handle/door lock combo available that looks great. I’m not unhappy with the appearance of the standard handle, but there have been multiple times where I would have liked a lock. They won’t stop a determined individual who wants your avionics, but just might mean that your headset or similar is still there when you return to your parked plane. If I were building now, it would be a no-brainer. Full disclosure, I haven’t pursued (yet) a retrofit.

Tubes. Van did a fabulous job designing this airplane. However, the process of adding air to the tires is NOT a high point of that design. With a standard setup, total time for me to check/add air to all three tires is nearly 2 hours. Consider using tubes with 90 degree stems (for the mains at least, watch out for clearance issues with the nose gear). Leak-resistant tubes are also a plus. Individuals’ experiences with different manufacturers of those have varied—do your research. Add some sort of access to the wheelpants—either a front-hinged door, or a hole drilled at the appropriate location to allow access to the stem via an extension. Holes can be hidden with a snap-in brushed stainless hole plug (aviation aisle at Home Depot). No one will think it looks out of place.

Brakes. Personally, I think the stock brakes are a little less than, er, optimum. A brake fire could well mean you watch a significant investment of $ and time literally go up in smoke. Long taxis in strong crosswinds, and inexperience with castering nosewheels can lead to extra brake use, as can an emergency T.O. abort. Lots of upgrade options here. Minimum for me would be swapping out the buna rubber o-rings on the caliper pistons with Viton (higher melting point), and using a fluid, e.g. Royco 782 (higher flash point than MIL-5606). This assumes you aren’t flying in extreme cold—look at the specs. Total cost, perhaps $10—less when building since the Royco would be in lieu of MIL-5606. Next higher option would be addition of thicker rotors—that’s where the kinetic energy is absorbed, stored, and eventually dissipated as heat, so more mass means more K.E. dissipated before overheating. Alternatively, you could consider switching to different brakes altogether (Matco, Beringer, etc..).

O/H console. Not critical, but having some additional ventilation overhead (routed from NACA vents along the fuselage) helps, especially in Arizona. Makes for a nice place for a couple of USB ports, and front seat shoulder harness “hangers” too.

Interior—think maintenance as well as appearance. I’m happy with my interior as installed. A little less so when it’s time to open the plane up for maintenance. Both the carpet and upholstery create issues—the former with tunnel access for example, especially near and forward of the rudder pedals, the latter with front seat removal (the flap extending beneath the front of the seat is long enough that you can’t get your hand back there to separate the Velcro, so that you can access the nuts securing the seat adjustment device to the seat itself). The manufacturer of my interior is no longer in business. I’m guessing that others have made improvements, but don’t have specific recommendations.

Tunnel side access panel. Easier access to fuel lines, filters, etc… Map our exactly where the items you want to access will be before locating the access panel.

Electrical Redundancy. Depends on your mission. Like primers, there are a lot of opinions about second batteries v standby alternators v both. Like many, I used to fly IFR in aircraft where “redundancy” meant both an alternator and a vacuum pump. I’m older now, and at least occasionally, smarter. Additionally, most aircraft today are much more electrically dependent.

Alternate Static source. A poppet valve, a push-to-connect tee, and a foot or so of ¼” tubing. One of the best spends of $10 or so (much like brakes above) you will have ever made if ice or other issues block the primary sources.

Pitot Heat. Mission-dependent, but a LOT easier to add during the build than after.

Remote oil filter. Mine is mounted on the firewall. Changing filters without making a mess is easy. Not so much with the standard mount on the IO-540, although there are workarounds, e.g. “form-a-funnel”. Having a standby alternator on the vacuum pad doesn’t help.

Air-oil separator. The builders of my plane installed one. Starting over, I probably wouldn’t.

Avionics. I’m not going to touch that, other than to say that long X-Cs without an autopilot are tiring, and IFR capability would likely be important if at some point in the future you decide to sell. Manufacturer (my experience is limited to Garmin, Dynon, and GRT) and specific items are mostly a function of individual preference and budget.

[andrewtac]

I think most everything I am doing was covered. Something I did this week was split the front tunnel cover. I have access panels on both sides. The split is about a third of the way back. When I need to remove the top I won't have to take the first third off. Friend helping me did his this way and I liked the idea. I am not planning on a quadrant or a console that connects to the instrument panel.

[BlackhawkSP]

Originally Posted by Jt rotor guy

I am about to start a builder Assist build on an RV-10. I am looking for must have upgrades people have found over the years. Things Vans could have done better or did not ever include. Please include engine setup and avionics. I am open minded and trying to see what works for me. I have seen some upgrades but would like to have a lot more options.... Looking to build the best plane I can.

I did the Rod Bower Ram Inlet scoop and elbow on my IO-540 and do not regret the mod. It's like free extra horsepower for any engine. Google it.

[Jt rotor guy]

Hi all. Thanks for the input. Have to admit I should ask more focused items to help you guys to help me. I greatly appreciate all the input and will research all of them. My focus was on what other builders did to make the RV-10 they built better. It could be just upgrading brakes, new latches or anything you may have done that you felt made it better or safer. I am looking at people’s blog and trying to find where these bit of knowledge may be found. But again I understand these are individual opinions. But that is what makes it great. Thanks again all.

[BrianDC]

You may want to poke into the RV-10 section and search there. This question has been asked a few times and many have posted the different upgrades or links to blogs where they discuss the different upgrades.

Once you have a list, there is plenty of reading to do to understand what those mods require from time/complexity, or even things that they may conflict with.

[AlpineYoda]

I’m making three main deviations from the plans.

1, BRS parachute system
2, TS Flightline braided hoses for all fuel and brake lines
3, Aveo zip tips.

Happy to discuss any of the above, but all are well-covered in these forums.