I was going to wait for my friend, an experienced A&P, to come over and help mount my engine, but tonight after moving the oil temperature sensor to the correct location (see other thread--and note that this post is to brag about Van's, not about my own ongoing comedy of errors) I decided just to see how well my engine crane would line things up with the engine mount.
My plane is an RV-14 taildragger and it's sitting up very high on its landing gear. I've read a lot of stories about mounting engines on airplanes. I've never mounted an airplane engine before and have only even watched someone do it once, on a Mooney. I've pulled and reinstalled a Porsche 911 engine, twice because, again my ongoing comedy of errors led to having a clutch part in backwards the first time. I also helped my grandpa pull and reinstall a Honda Trail 70 engine when I was about 7 years old.
Most airplane engine mounting stories involve 3 or 4 people including an A&P, some special tools including a load leveler to match the engine angle to the airplane, the better part of a Saturday afternoon of work, and a few cases of good beer. I decided to take a stab at mounting it solo...
It took just over an hour from the time I rolled the engine crane with the engine hanging from it over to the airplane until the time I rolled it away, sans engine.
All credit to Van's for making that possible. If anyone asks for a recommendation for an airplane kit for a first-time builder, the answer is an RV-14 or nothing.
Caveat: If the RV-12 is anywhere near this well put together of a kit (and, as a 2018 One Week Wonder volunteer, my observation is that it is), then I would recommend it for its target audience: light sport pilots, people with a garage or shop instead of a hangar to store it in, people less brave about customizing their airplane, and people whose budget comes up short of a well-equipped RV-14.
My plane is an RV-14 taildragger and it's sitting up very high on its landing gear. I've read a lot of stories about mounting engines on airplanes. I've never mounted an airplane engine before and have only even watched someone do it once, on a Mooney. I've pulled and reinstalled a Porsche 911 engine, twice because, again my ongoing comedy of errors led to having a clutch part in backwards the first time. I also helped my grandpa pull and reinstall a Honda Trail 70 engine when I was about 7 years old.
Most airplane engine mounting stories involve 3 or 4 people including an A&P, some special tools including a load leveler to match the engine angle to the airplane, the better part of a Saturday afternoon of work, and a few cases of good beer. I decided to take a stab at mounting it solo...
It took just over an hour from the time I rolled the engine crane with the engine hanging from it over to the airplane until the time I rolled it away, sans engine.
All credit to Van's for making that possible. If anyone asks for a recommendation for an airplane kit for a first-time builder, the answer is an RV-14 or nothing.
Caveat: If the RV-12 is anywhere near this well put together of a kit (and, as a 2018 One Week Wonder volunteer, my observation is that it is), then I would recommend it for its target audience: light sport pilots, people with a garage or shop instead of a hangar to store it in, people less brave about customizing their airplane, and people whose budget comes up short of a well-equipped RV-14.
