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Brantel RV-12IS Build Thread

Got the wings mounted today for hopefully the last time, fitted my 3d printed AirBox spacer and reinstalled the air filter, put 5 gallons of 93 octane no ethanol gas in it and ran the fuel pumps. So far no leaks detected.

What kind of sound do you all hear from the pumps running on one vs running on two?

Found some coolant on top of cylinder #2 which had to come from the hose above it that connects to the divider. Not sure what to make of that because I could never find the source. Engine has not been ran yet so if it is leaking, it is at cold/no pressure.

Thanks Nancy and Bob for the help!
 

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Brantel said:
Got the wings mounted today for hopefully the last time, fitted my 3d printed AirBox spacer and reinstalled the air filter, put 5 gallons of 93 octane no ethanol gas in it and ran the fuel pumps. So far no leaks detected.

What kind of sound do you all hear from the pumps running on one vs running on two?

Found some coolant on top of cylinder #2 which had to come from the hose above it that connects to the divider. Not sure what to make of that because I could never find the source. Engine has not been ran yet so if it is leaking, it is at cold/no pressure.

Thanks Nancy and Bob for the help!
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SWEET
 
Brian,
Are you flying with the Sensenich first? I would be very interested in your comparison of the two props. I am thinking about trying an E-Prop on the RV4.
Rick
 
rag said:
Brian,
Are you flying with the Sensenich first? I would be very interested in your comparison of the two props. I am thinking about trying an E-Prop on the RV4.
Rick
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Rick,

I was not planning on it due to the cost and effort of having it dynamically balanced. The E-Props are balanced at the factory. Have not made up my mind yet.
 
You will love the E-Prop… beautifully constructed and balanced perfectly at the factory. Runs extremely smooth… I have my blade pitch set at 26.0° and it outperforms the two-blade Sensenisch in all regards.
You can confirm relative blade pitch when sun shines on back of prop during flight. The sun's reflection strobes each blade and reflection angle will show if any blade pitch is mismatch. Works a charm….
 

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All I got to say is....who ever at Van's is responsible for the design and access to the rudder cable attachments at the pedals. That crap ain't funny!
I left a ton of DNA inside that tunnel last evening!
 
Brantel said:
All I got to say is....who ever at Van's is responsible for the design and access to the rudder cable attachments at the pedals. That crap ain't funny!
I left a ton of DNA inside that tunnel last evening!
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I have been putting that off as long as possible, mostly because I'm waiting for my revised fuel system parts before putting the tail cone on. But given how much fun the firewall fuel fittings were to install, I'm not looking forward to the experience!
 
Brantel said:
All I got to say is....who ever at Van's is responsible for the design and access to the rudder cable attachments at the pedals. That crap ain't funny!
I left a ton of DNA inside that tunnel last evening!
Click to expand...
I had to do that twice - first time, the cables were too long, so took it apart and shortened the connector plates. Spent a lot of time cleaning the blood off my painted interior.......
 
jsalley said:
I had to do that twice - first time, the cables were too long, so took it apart and shortened the connector plates. Spent a lot of time cleaning the blood off my painted interior.......
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I've been wondering if I had the cable length right, even following the KAI instructions. At least one side feels a bit slack. How did you determine your first installation was too long? @jsalley
 
ymc9 said:
I've been wondering if I had the cable length right, even following the KAI instructions. At least one side feels a bit slack. How did you determine your first installation was too long? @jsalley
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If the pedal hits the firewall before the rudder hits its stop, it’s too long.
 
jsalley said:
I had to do that twice - first time, the cables were too long, so took it apart and shortened the connector plates. Spent a lot of time cleaning the blood off my painted interior.......
Click to expand...

That's where a pull tie comes in handy...
 
ymc9 said:
I've been wondering if I had the cable length right, even following the KAI instructions. At least one side feels a bit slack. How did you determine your first installation was too long? @jsalley
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What Brian said. The pedals were just about at the firewall. After shortening by one hole in the connectors, they are where I felt they needed to be, and are working well now that I’m flying. BTW, I found it pretty cumbersome to use the wood blocks behind the pedals when setting the cable lengths - that’s how they ended up too long. Tip - don’t put the cotter pins through the castle nuts until you have the length adjusted correctly - they’re a bitch to put in, then take out, then put in again!
 
Brantel said:
All I got to say is....who ever at Van's is responsible for the design and access to the rudder cable attachments at the pedals. That crap ain't funny!
I left a ton of DNA inside that tunnel last evening!
Click to expand...
I read about a previous builder temporarily installing the cable clevis directly on the pedals and figuring out the correct holes to use on the links back on the rudder horn where it was easier to measure from. Then switch the links back to the peddle and cable clevis.
You still had the final assembly to deal with but that access hole helped a lot.
 
I wonder how the factory does it on the S-LSA’s. I can’t imagine that there is much difference in the airframes. Do they just assume a certain length and install the links when everything is wide open?

I think the 3” specified in the KAI’s is a bit short between the pedal and the firewall.
 
Brantel said:
I wonder how the factory does it on the S-LSA’s. I can’t imagine that there is much difference in the airframes. Do they just assume a certain length and install the links when everything is wide open?

I think the 3” specified in the KAI’s is a bit short between the pedal and the firewall.
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I suspect the variability in build length of fuselage is negligible thus why not just specify which hole to use. Almost bet that is what they do for SLSA, "Oh we always use the same hole..." So what hole did you end up in and should we do a poll to ask the crowd?
 
docjjrmd said:
I suspect the variability in build length of fuselage is negligible thus why not just specify which hole to use. Almost bet that is what they do for SLSA, "Oh we always use the same hole..." So what hole did you end up in and should we do a poll to ask the crowd?
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To be honest I don’t know. The holes in the plates are slightly offset and not centered between the two holes on the ends.

I just made it tight and cut em. Did not pay attention to which end was anchored to the cables.
 
PSA for those that have not completed the empennage fairing… the scribe lines stink and are not symmetrical side to side and the top does not match the bottom! On top of that, the bottom one has two different scribe lines on the fwd end???? Which one is correct? Have no clue!
 
Brantel said:
PSA for those that have not completed the empennage fairing… the scribe lines stink and are not symmetrical side to side and the top does not match the bottom! On top of that, the bottom one has two different scribe lines on the fwd end???? Which one is correct? Have no clue!
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This is definitely a 'make it work' part of of the build, and we all have warts here.

Mine is a little crooked. It shows in the spacing on each side of the AST tab rod. I also had to do some creative trimming of the stab skin.
 
N8DAV8R said:
This is definitely a 'make it work' part of of the build, and we all have warts here.

Mine is a little crooked. It shows in the spacing on each side of the AST tab rod. I also had to do some creative trimming of the stab skin.
Click to expand...
Same here - mine still doesn’t look quite right. I had to grind some metal off the stabilator where it moves past the fairing to keep it from contacting.
 
Follow-up to my first start and my coolant leak on the top coolant elbow of the #2 cylinder.

Turns out these elbows are threaded into the flange and sealed with Loctite 577. Looks like mine was either turned after curing or was not sealed/cured properly. It is supposed to take heat and some torque to unscrew this assembly but I was able to easily turn this one by hand.

577 will arrive tomorrow and I have the parts prepped to reseal and cure overnight. Hopefully this will solve the issue!
 
Second engine run today after removing and resealing the top coolant elbow on cylinder 2. No leaks! Ran the engine much longer today, long enough to taxi over to the compass rose and calibrate the magnetometer then back to the hangar. The engine is purring like a kitten! Now I can concentrate on finishing up this god forsaken tailcone fairing!
 
Transponder check completed and signed off today! One step closer to first flight.

Earlier this week I finished up the God forsaken tailcone fairing. It ended up better than I expected. Laser etched the data plate and installed it, N numbers show up tomorrow.

Did some high speed taxi testing while breaking in the brakes. The nose wheel went airborne for extended periods while I did a wheelie down the runway several times.

Transition training scheduled for week after next with the operator of the largest S-LSA RV12IS fleet in the USA.

Won’t be long now boys and girls!
 
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