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Show us a picture of your RV-10 progress.

O2 Canister Location

here's a better look at the access panel


John,

Since I have an RV-7A and have never been inside an RV-10, perhaps I'm asking a dumb question... in looking at your mounting of the O2 Canister onto the rear baggage bulkhead (behind the rear seats), while in flight, how does the pilot or right seat passenger access the canister to control the flow of Oxygen?

Just curious... Thanx, Victor
 
Victor, go back a couple pages, there is a photo of his bottle in place-----it is a "Mountain High" setup, they have a remote control feature for the bottle.

http://www.mhoxygen.com/index.php/built-in-systems-o2/ip/46-eds-2ip-faa-cami-tested

IPR-on-Tank.jpeg
 
What Mike said,

If you look on the panel, there's an O2 switch. It's tied to 3 small lines that come from the MTN High PCR regulator. Then I am using 2 O2D2s in my center console for pulse demand oxygen that will feed 4 people.
 
If you look on the panel, there's an O2 switch. It's tied to 3 small lines that come from the MTN High PCR regulator. Then I am using 2 O2D2s in my center console for pulse demand oxygen that will feed 4 people.

John,

Great set up... I knew there would be a good answer to my question.

Thanx. :)
 
Coming to an airport near you...

Recently released reconnaissance photo snapped at the fabled Monkworks facility hidden deep in rural south Georgia:

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==dave==
N102FM
Flying Monkey
getting closer all the time....
 
We Are Worthy!

Received the certificate today; Vic Syracuse did the honors at the fabled Monkworks facility. 3 years and 3 months, almost 2800 hours since starting...looking forward to the transition from builder to flyer.
2wgw1o0.jpg


==dave==
N102FM
 
The Big Move

Finally catching up on an update.
We got a lot done in the week before Christmas.
Did the Matco Wheel and brake upgrade (finally) as well as the front axel upgrade. They had been on my list since the beginning but were in the "can happen anytime" pile... Along with some new Desser tires (oshkosh Special) and The plane Around Fairing spacers...





Then is was time for the big move the next day... Moved to Neosho (KEOS), for final assembly and first flight.

Leaving it's home..


Thanks for the help Al!!



New Home




 
Engine Start

Then, only 2 days later... we got the wings on and we got to fire up the engine. Won't say it was completely without hiccups. Found some pilot error upon inspection... but once it fired up, it ran like butter. Just ran it enough to do a few tests. Still need to get enough RPMs to get the proper to cycle. That's be the next engine run.

Always good to have some A&P friends help out...




A shortened clip... Watching 5 minutes of engine running is not the most exciting...
https://youtu.be/io3QeNgvviA

Enjoy
 
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Wow John, looks great! Congrats on many things. Are you adding AC by any chance? Looking forward to seeing your cowl on.
 
Wow John, looks great! Congrats on many things. Are you adding AC by any chance? Looking forward to seeing your cowl on.

No AC. My wife wanted it, but once I showed her the inverse relationship of AC to how many pairs of shoes she could bring on trips, it became unanimous. :D
 
Very exciting! Getting really close. I particularly liked the night shot through the partially closed hangar door...

==Dave==
N102FM
 
The air intake is part of the Show Planes cowl. I should have seen no AC compressor. That'd require yet another mod!

Looking good, man that spinner is awesome.
 
Just curious (not critical)... When I look at the routing of the SS brake line, I'm wondering if its fairly tight bend radius just prior to the swaged termination would impart a permanent pressure on the brake caliper, thus causing uneven brake wear?

I ask this because I just retrofitted similar SS brake lines to a certificated aircraft and experienced some challenges in routing the lines in a manner that allowed the brake caliper to be free floating.

That's one wicked looking prop - looks fast even when standing still!
 
Just curious (not critical)... When I look at the routing of the SS brake line, I'm wondering if its fairly tight bend radius just prior to the swaged termination would impart a permanent pressure on the brake caliper, thus causing uneven brake wear?

I ask this because I just retrofitted similar SS brake lines to a certificated aircraft and experienced some challenges in routing the lines in a manner that allowed the brake caliper to be free floating.

That's one wicked looking prop - looks fast even when standing still!

It's not as sharp as it looks. When I unhook it the line sits right in the same spot. I put those lines in 2 years ago.
 
Decided to do my own upholstery. It's been a learning experience thus far and I only have the bottom of one front seat done. I do have the templates done, so the second will be easier. I'd be happy to share if anyone is interested. CAD or PDF.

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Looking Nice

Looks like cloth in the middle and vinyl or leather on the outside? I did my own as well - saved money even with buying a new sewing machine and, as you said, learned a lot. is this your first upholstery job? I also wonder if you attached the fabric to the foam (glue or Velcro) or just covered it?

Here's the previous thread:

http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=114271

Did you make your own sidewall panels too? the other trim in your airplane looks very nice!

==dave==
 
Thanks Dave. I saw your post before I started and it helped bolster my confidence to do my own, so thanks again. This is my first upholstery job. I bought a $250 walking foot machine off of Craigslist from a guy in San Antonio, then spent another couple hundred for a servo motor for it.

All the material is vinyl. I've been struggling for days with getting a tight looking fit. I purchased some 1/4" backing foam to use behind all of the vinyl. I was spraying it with glue , then stitching it all together. I noticed some really bad, no other way to describe it other than "cottage cheese" effect going on. So I surgically separated the material from the foam and used baby powder to keep it from sticking back again. Seemed to work.

The next problem involved the seat foam from vans seemed to compress too much when I pulled everything really tight. So I made an AL pan to go under all the foam to keep it elongated.

To further explain/describe my process I stitched in some 1/8" steel round rod under each of the center "humps" and then tied some wax coated string to the rods and pulled tight from the bottom. One day I will learn all the proper lingo.

I made the overhead console, window trims, air and light trim on the OH console , and elbow pads. The side panels, armrest and instrument panel are from Aerosport Products. Very nice products, by the way.

Cory
 
Final Paint

Love the upholstery, very nice.

Today, got the baby in the air after 5 months in paint. It has been flying for 18 months already, however, looks a lot better now.

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With marine vinyl, you have thin plastic between the vinyl and the foam. If you don't do that, the foam will eventually turn to dust as it rubs the vinyl.

To get rid of wrinkles, you can use a heat gun. Just practice on a scrap piece to see how much heat is too much.
 
Amazing work. But shouldn't there be a cup holder in the back of that fold-down armrest? ;) Seriously, though, beautiful work.
 
Wow Cory! That's beautiful work! Do you have a background in upholstery or sewing??

On a scale of 1-10, how big of a PITA was the project?
 
That looks really nice - you should be justifiably proud. Did you attach the rear seat bottom to the seat in some way or is it held in by the fit?

--Dave--
N102FM
 
Thanks for all the positive comments!

I did a couple of bar stool cushions for practice prior to the interior. That's about the extent of my experience. I've racked up many hours now, I'm certainly more comfortable now then when I first started.

I was on the fence about stitching the upholstery myself to begin with because it is such a visible component of the build and REALLY needs to look flawless. I told myself I would just try one front seat bottom cushion and if it turned out OK, would press on. After a few mistakes I have a better handle on it.

I was originally going to put cup holders in the center hump between the seats, but can't bring myself to cutting a hole in there. I think I will make something that goes in the aft of the footwell up against the tunnel. I can say with confidence that while sitting in the back seat a beer fits in that spot pretty easily and not in the way.

The aft bottom seat cushion has a plywood bottom, 3/8" I think. I made it a bit oversized with the foam, so for now it's just being held in by friction. I don't know if I will fasten it in with anything, seems pretty tight. Not to mention easy to remove. The back seat upright cushions will be bolted to AL seat backs.
 
Wow Cory! That's beautiful work! Do you have a background in upholstery or sewing??

On a scale of 1-10, how big of a PITA was the project?

I'd say a 4 if your patient. Of course if you are building your own plane, patience is a must. I probably have about 30 hrs in the seat upholstery.
 
Day 1

4 hr, 31 min of actual building on the first day in the shop. I can't believe I have something that looks like part of a plane

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Back under construction

It's still in a lot of pieces, but I drove my first rivets in quite a while this week. The new house and shop is all done and I'm back on the build. I never thought I'd be so excited about deburring!

All my pictures on the blog are huge, so won't post it here, but check out the link in my signature for some pictures.
 
Hi Tim,

I hope you and the missus are well.

Glad to hear you are back at it again. Also, congratulations on the new house, sounds really nice!
 
Welcome back..

..to your build, Tim. I'm sure you're itching to make some progress on the plane, now that the house is done.
 
Making progress

Just completed three great weeks at Synergy in Eugene, Oregon. We "quick built" a slow build fuselage. There was a Philipine QB fuselage there that we could use when the plans were ambiguous. We were also able to compare build quality. I think we did pretty well in comparison.

Obviously more expensive for me than the QB route, but I had a blast and learned a lot more than I would have simply ordering a QB fuselage.

Going back in late January to build the wings. In case you can't tell, I am a fan of Synergy. :D

Haven't figured out how to post pictures yet - it is a lot like the Van's plans - not entirely intuitive or easy to decipher sometimes. :confused:
 
Groovy becomes Zeus



Not too often you get to "finish" your aircraft twice! G-RVVY has been moved and re-registered as ZU-IIZ. I'll say one thing - the weather in South Africa is a bit better than UK....... :D
 
John,
Do you have any pics of how you did your Baja landing/taxi light installation? It looks like they are adjustable up/down and left/right using spring loaded screws, but it would be great to see how you did it.
Antony

This update doesn't contain anything new that hasn't been done almost 800 times or so... but, might as well post.

We finally put in the Windscreen, and built the fairing. Went pretty well. Good thing I researched it here. Would never have thought to dye the filer and epoxy black until it was too late....

We also fitted the wings. So, that was kind of big deal. Actually went surprisingly easy. The plane got to get out of the garage and make Uturn back in.
Amazing that these wings left the factory in 2005 and the fuse in 2007, and they went together like butter. A lot to be said for Vans engineering and production.


Made and riveted in an extra bracket for the the windscreen. It disappeared under the fairing once it was all done.









Big thanks to the crew we had come out and help with the wings...
We figured out, between this crew we are responsible for 11 planes either built and flying or in progress... With Al and Shayne being the most repeat offenders...


Thanks to Al Smith (RV-6, Zeinith 650, RV-12, and currently a Zenith 750), Earl Starkman (25,000hr commercial pilot), Frank Klimek (Cub Replica and currently Sonex), Rick "Wingman" Wantz, Sonex), and of course, my father-in-law, Shayne (Sonex Waiex, Zenith 650, Zenith 601 and now the RV-10)



Only some minor trimming has to be done on the flaps..




 
John,
Do you have any pics of how you did your Baja landing/taxi light installation? It looks like they are adjustable up/down and left/right using spring loaded screws, but it would be great to see how you did it.
Antony

I didn't document this super well. If you email me I'll send you what I have. But yes, I made a plate that attaches under the Baja Designs front face that essentially filled in the gap in the shape of the lens. Then I used 3 screws to attached it. It's three screes, going into three nut plates, with spacers and springs to get the right tension so that it's tight and still adjustable. Just by eyeballing it during the build I was within a few turns of getting the lights just right. I was actually shocked at the the first time I turned them on with the wings permanently attached and they were almost dead on....
In the end I painted the lenses (actually vinyl) so you can't see the guts behind the light.

I will say that I'm super happy with the results. Obviously I stole the idea from other guys. I'd been using these lights on my offload trucks and motorcycles, but hadn't thought about this use.... They are truly badass lights... and ZERO interference with the coms..... My wife say that when I'm out flying at sunset, she can tell it's me from the hangar (a LOOOOOONG WAYS away) because my landing lights are so bright....
 
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Airport Move

The time finally came this weekend when I ran out of things to keep me busy in the garage. I had already cancelled the tow truck once before, realizing that the time wasn't right. I'm glad I did. Since that first postponement, I've probably put an additional 70~80 hours into getting everything wrapped up. That would not have been fun to add all that on to what's left to do at the hangar.
The tow truck showed up Friday morning. The driver was a little too confident for my comfort level with getting the plane tied to the truck. I checked everything several times, but still was nervous. The drive to the airport is 20 minutes across town from my house. Did you know that it is possible for a person to hold their breath for 20 minutes?! Ya learn something every day! :p

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200 hour mark

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What a rewarding experience. I have enjoyed every cleco, dimple and rivet. I just passed the 200 hr mark
 
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Not pretty but useful

This became my first welding project-- to make a towbar for the 10. Since I'm at the point of needing to move it around I had to wrap it up. Learning a lot about welding now but have a useful device to put to work. I've installed the steel helicoil and extended the bolt with a spacer to extend about 1/4 outside the pant. The right side of the bar slides in or out and locks to the in position. The handle extends another 2 feet if needed. Ok back to the project.

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