What's new
Van's Air Force

The definitive Van's Aircraft support community! Buying, building or flying an RV? Join our exclusive family of mentors and enthusiasts!

Things to do While Waiting for My Engine

Mark Dickens

Mark Dickens

Well Known Member
Patron
I believe I have gone about as far as you can without an engine. Vans still projects July 2 as the targeted ship date, but who knows? Til then I'll be going quietly mad with nothing to do if you can't come up with something I've missed!

So far, I've completed everything aft of the firewall and the following:

Built the baffle parts through 47-12 and will paint them tomorrow
Finished the wheel pants and gear leg fairings (I'm going to do the intersection fairings after final mounting of the cowl)
Wired up the firewall. Everything ready to attach to the engine
Trimmed the cowl through 45-7
All placards installed and aircraft registration pouch installed and waiting on the darned FAA to process my application sent in a month ago
Storage pouches installed in cockpit

I'll recheck rigging and ensure my nuts are tight, and just about anything else I can imagine, but I've actually already done that...I'll do it again

If anyone can come up with something I've missed, I'll buy you a beer at the beer social! :p
 
Last edited:
If you have your avionics, or know what they are going to be, get and read the manuals, cover to cover. These forums are full of posts like,”Why won’t my brand X do this?”, only to have someone reply, ‘The answer to your question is on page 95 of the set up manual’. Pretty dull reading for the most part, but, as the builder-owner, you really should read them.
 
BobTurner said:
If you have your avionics, or know what they are going to be, get and read the manuals, cover to cover. These forums are full of posts like,”Why won’t my brand X do this?”, only to have someone reply, ‘The answer to your question is on page 95 of the set up manual’. Pretty dull reading for the most part, but, as the builder-owner, you really should read them.
Click to expand...
All installed and tested and except for the in flight calibration procedures, everything is calibrated, including the fuel system
 
BobTurner said:
If you have your avionics, or know what they are going to be, get and read the manuals, cover to cover.
Click to expand...
The Garmin G3X manual alone is 1,015 pages. If you add up all the manual for the other equipment, it's easily 2,000 pages. Yes, we all need to read these documents but I can understand how folks forget some of the things they've read - especially if you're trying to stay awake while reading.

Then of course you have folks like @mburch who if I didn't know otherwise seems to have memorized the G3X manual.
 
bertschb said:
The Garmin G3X manual alone is 1,015 pages. If you add up all the manual for the other equipment, it's easily 2,000 pages. Yes, we all need to read these documents but I can understand how folks forget some of the things they've read - especially if you're trying to stay awake while reading.

Then of course you have folks like @mburch who if I didn't know otherwise seems to have memorized the G3X manual.
Click to expand...
The manual is helpful (mine is Dynon) but unless you can "read and do", it's hard to really get what's going on. Since this is my 3rd dynon install, I feel pretty good about knowing how to use it!
 
bertschb said:
The Garmin G3X manual alone is 1,015 pages. If you add up all the manual for the other equipment, it's easily 2,000 pages. Yes, we all need to read these documents but I can understand how folks forget some of the things they've read - especially if you're trying to stay awake while reading.

Then of course you have folks like @mburch who if I didn't know otherwise seems to have memorized the G3X manual.
Click to expand...
569 pages of the G3X manual are legal disclaimers, you know! ;)
 
Mark Dickens said:
569 pages of the G3X manual are legal disclaimers, you know! ;)
Click to expand...
Hah! That wouldn't surprise me in the least. The warnings on products are so ridiculous (e.g. "don't place fingers in blender when operating") that I suspect the majority of people ignore them altogether.
 
This ain't your first rodeo, but have you gone through the list of everything you'll need to mount the engine--and can put your hands on them? Engine mounts, hardware, lifting lugs, etc.? It seems that stuff often has a tendency to hide when you need it, especially when you put it in a place for safekeeping. What about obtaining throttle, mixture, & prop cables going to the engine, and whatever firewall penetrations you're going to use? Is your oil cooler mounted (I believe the 14 typically goes on the firewall)? Do you have an engine hoist or other means to offload the engine from the truck and mount it on the plane? I'm just spitballing here, and you may have thought of all of these things.
 
D-Dubya said:
This ain't your first rodeo, but have you gone through the list of everything you'll need to mount the engine--and can put your hands on them? Engine mounts, hardware, lifting lugs, etc.? It seems that stuff often has a tendency to hide when you need it, especially when you put it in a place for safekeeping. What about obtaining throttle, mixture, & prop cables going to the engine, and whatever firewall penetrations you're going to use? Is your oil cooler mounted (I believe the 14 typically goes on the firewall)? Do you have an engine hoist or other means to offload the engine from the truck and mount it on the plane? I'm just spitballing here, and you may have thought of all of these things.
Click to expand...
Excellent questions, and yes, I have been through the FWF inventory, including the control cables. I haven't mounted the oil cooler yet because it could get in the way of mounting the engine. I have the engine mounts (and double checked that they are the right ones)...on the -14, the oil cooler is mounted on the engine mount with a prefabbed mounting frame (so nice). The engine will be delivered to my warehouse where we offload it with our fork lift onto my trailer for the trip to the airport and then we will use the engine hoist to place it on a dolly. No doubt I'll find something to scrounge or buy, but it shouldn't be anything significant.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top