jcmcdowell
Well Known Member
I sold my RV9a kit and purchased a flying RV7 recently and have spent the last two weeks going through the airplane inspecting/fixing/changing items.
A few interesting items of note:
1. shrink tubing makes it tough to find broken wires.
2. NEVER solder three or more leads at odd angles together (hence the broken lead).
3. Abundant use of terminal blocks behind the panel makes "re" wiring a snap. This gentleman ran everything around the airplane to a termination point behind the panel and another shorter run from there to the instrument/switch.
4. for the money/maintenance- NEVER re-use old AN fittings. A AN917-1 "T" at the oil temp/pressure sensors was cracked along the top and above idle ejected oil like a firehose.
5. The pain in the rear factor for changing out old switches etc...for the money invested in a new switch doesn't make sense to salvage old stuff.
6. when making your baffles- consider if you can get the spark plug OUT, also consider avoiding tight angles for the wires off the plug.
7. baggage floor- the strobe power supply went bad and was 'temporarily' replaced behind the co-pilot seat. Consider NOT riveting the platenuts into the floor panel. It was a piece of cake drilling out the pop rivets, but a real bugger to drill out the platenuts and reinstall them along the back and baggage tunnel access.
8. brake lines- watch out running the brake lines to the reservoir. The lines were run in such a way that it 'loosened' the T at the reservoir. tighten the T to make the lines tie into the T clockwise and when the pedals are pushed the tension won't pull counterclockwise on the T.
9. Don't use old mixture/throttle/carb heat cables.
Overall the craftmanship is good on the plane- some other things you might not notice till the plane is finished.
1. the elevator weights- might need adjusting after final install and paint.
2. electric aileron trim can affect heavy wing condition from being too tight.
3. camloc bolts would sure make getting the cowling on/off a lot easier alone- and are a lot of work to install after paint.
4. T15 fasteners might look cool and sound like a good idea- but they strip easier than philips heads screws. A square head would be better than the T15 or stick with the phillips- anywhere you go someone will have a phillips screwdriver.
5. electrical equipment in the sides of the fuselage (by your elbows) can cause rubbing with the rudder cable. A PS intercom was wired by the pilot side and there is a mess of wires that are tight with the rudder cable.
6. drll separate holes for the static lines and the ruder cables.
Some really good ideas;
1. The builder cut custom wood floor boards that screwed down with insulation below. Looks good, stays in place, low wear, easy cleanup!
2. The builder used thin plastic to make side panels. He bent the plastic and then back sprayed it the interior color and used rivnuts to mount in place. A bit angular, but light and clean looking.
3. He used a Laird Owens modular fiberglass panel- AWESOME! I changed one small panel section and moved around a bunch of switches without having to redo the whole panel. NOTE- if installing a Laird Owens panel, run a metal angle across the bottom for support of the throttle/mixt mount.
A couple more days of inspection/cleanup and I'll be starting the next 19 hours of insurance required dual (no previous tailwheel time).
These are great airplanes and I love that I can maintain the plane. Certainly having a great group of RV'ers around (Falcon Squadron) makes it easier as well as the VAF forum.
A few interesting items of note:
1. shrink tubing makes it tough to find broken wires.
2. NEVER solder three or more leads at odd angles together (hence the broken lead).
3. Abundant use of terminal blocks behind the panel makes "re" wiring a snap. This gentleman ran everything around the airplane to a termination point behind the panel and another shorter run from there to the instrument/switch.
4. for the money/maintenance- NEVER re-use old AN fittings. A AN917-1 "T" at the oil temp/pressure sensors was cracked along the top and above idle ejected oil like a firehose.
5. The pain in the rear factor for changing out old switches etc...for the money invested in a new switch doesn't make sense to salvage old stuff.
6. when making your baffles- consider if you can get the spark plug OUT, also consider avoiding tight angles for the wires off the plug.
7. baggage floor- the strobe power supply went bad and was 'temporarily' replaced behind the co-pilot seat. Consider NOT riveting the platenuts into the floor panel. It was a piece of cake drilling out the pop rivets, but a real bugger to drill out the platenuts and reinstall them along the back and baggage tunnel access.
8. brake lines- watch out running the brake lines to the reservoir. The lines were run in such a way that it 'loosened' the T at the reservoir. tighten the T to make the lines tie into the T clockwise and when the pedals are pushed the tension won't pull counterclockwise on the T.
9. Don't use old mixture/throttle/carb heat cables.
Overall the craftmanship is good on the plane- some other things you might not notice till the plane is finished.
1. the elevator weights- might need adjusting after final install and paint.
2. electric aileron trim can affect heavy wing condition from being too tight.
3. camloc bolts would sure make getting the cowling on/off a lot easier alone- and are a lot of work to install after paint.
4. T15 fasteners might look cool and sound like a good idea- but they strip easier than philips heads screws. A square head would be better than the T15 or stick with the phillips- anywhere you go someone will have a phillips screwdriver.
5. electrical equipment in the sides of the fuselage (by your elbows) can cause rubbing with the rudder cable. A PS intercom was wired by the pilot side and there is a mess of wires that are tight with the rudder cable.
6. drll separate holes for the static lines and the ruder cables.
Some really good ideas;
1. The builder cut custom wood floor boards that screwed down with insulation below. Looks good, stays in place, low wear, easy cleanup!
2. The builder used thin plastic to make side panels. He bent the plastic and then back sprayed it the interior color and used rivnuts to mount in place. A bit angular, but light and clean looking.
3. He used a Laird Owens modular fiberglass panel- AWESOME! I changed one small panel section and moved around a bunch of switches without having to redo the whole panel. NOTE- if installing a Laird Owens panel, run a metal angle across the bottom for support of the throttle/mixt mount.
A couple more days of inspection/cleanup and I'll be starting the next 19 hours of insurance required dual (no previous tailwheel time).
These are great airplanes and I love that I can maintain the plane. Certainly having a great group of RV'ers around (Falcon Squadron) makes it easier as well as the VAF forum.
). I got the Enigma in and that's when the fun started (the actual install of the Enigma was uneventful).
