Well here we sit with 39.0 hours on the RV-3?s clock and the rain coming down in a constant drizzle?.and it?s been low, or foggy, or rainy (or all three as a bonus!) since last Tuesday! Fortunately, we have essentially completed what I consider the legally ?essential? parts of Phase 1 (envelope definition and expansion, climb/glide/cruise performance, aerobatic maneuvers, and normal flight parameter definitions), so when we can get another hour in, we?ll be able to sign it off and start some cross-country work. Then of course, we?ll continue refining our performance tables and doing extensive avionics testing and practice before committing to things like IFR flight.
However, a few notes on things we?ve had to tweak during Phase 1 might interest those who have followed the RV-3 build?.
Overall, the test program has been outstanding! I have done most of the envelope work, and Louise has been working through performance data collection ? which will continue into Phase 2. I have been amazed at how well thigns like gear alignment and trim have worked out - even with a kit this basic, it is hard to screw it up enough to matter. Random errors do seem to cancel out....
The little tweaks we?ve mentioned above have not diminished our enjoyment and satisfaction one bit ? this is without a doubt, a pilot?s airplane!
Paul
However, a few notes on things we?ve had to tweak during Phase 1 might interest those who have followed the RV-3 build?.
1) We had a heck of a time keeping the beautiful Aero LED Pulsars (Nav and Strobe) going. This was quite a mystery ? they could be dismounted from the bayonets quickly, and with a little wire wiggling, they?d work again. Then a flight or two later, they?d be dead. More wire wiggly and connector examination. They were installed with the supplied Molex block connectors. When I got serious about troubleshooting them that turned out to be the problem ? Dean was very helpful, and admitted that they really weren?t very high quality connectors ? they are working on something better. In the meantime, I replaced them with D-Sub pins and sockets (we?re talking real low current), and they?ve been rock solid ever since.
2) The right brake went mushy a few times. Back during the inspection, our DAR?s boss (Ann Asberry) noted a drip of red fluid on the tip of the bleeder, so I had tightened it up. I bled them a couple of additional times, and always made sure the bleeder was tight ? but it kept leaking. I finally took the broader view, and realized that the fitting that the bleeder valve screws in to was a bit loose ? it is an NPT fitting, and needed a little additional encouragement to stop seeping.
3) A little wheel pant damage ? we must have had a rock kick up between the left tire and pant, and it took a little chunk out of the rear corner of the tire opening, and cracked the pant about an inch from the opening for several inches. No problem ? this took about ten minutes of work, and a couple of hours of cure time ? then it was back to flying. Just glad it isn?t painted yet! We might open up the clearances another quarter inch.
4) Comm 1 seemed to have a limited transmit range, and it wasn?t receiving AWOS?s very well either. Gee?.you should be able to talk to the moon with a GNS 430W. Of course, it works a lot better if the BNC connector is properly seated on the antenna?..that just took a floor panel pull to chase down.
5) We have had a little cracking of the inboard lower skin of the left flap ? the little piece that sticks out to fair into the fuselage. This is very thin skin on the RV-3, and is essentially unsupported. It started cracking at a rivet in the front, and right at the bend (of course!) at the trailing edge. We stopped drilled both, and had no further propagation ? but we?ll do a doubler or a different configuration before paint.
6) We had to replace the G3X ADAHRS right after first flight ? Garmin was VERY fast in getting this out to us. We had a pretty early serial number, and the problem was just with the Air Data board ? they suspected a connector inside the box, and we haven?t had a single bad hit of data with the new box.
7) The rear-most rivet that holds the canopy hinge to the fuselage popped - the head came right off. I attributed this to having the safety cable a little long, and as the canopy opened past vertical, it induced a ?camming? force that pulled up on the hinge. Shortening the cable help a lot. At some point, we?re going to figure out the geometry for a strut.
8) The canopy latch was getting stiff, and I realized that the shaft was sliding ?inboard? through the skirt hole, binding the pushrods. I added a nylon spacer on the shaft between the skirt and the outside handle, holding the handle in position ? it?s much better now (but still stiff!)
9) Left fuel gauge went ?inop? after a few hours. Seems to be an intermittent connection inside the tank ? Dang! Fortunately, we aren?t painted yet, so when we get some downtime after Phase 1, we?ll pull the tank and replace the sender ? new one is on hand already.
10) I am a bit worried about the ventilation ? the round skirt vents we installed are gorgeous, but seem to be embedded in a bad flow area ? they produce mostly noise, and little airflow. We have a set of RV-10 back-seat vents on order that we might install in the fuselage below the longeron ? one or both of these should do the trick.
2) The right brake went mushy a few times. Back during the inspection, our DAR?s boss (Ann Asberry) noted a drip of red fluid on the tip of the bleeder, so I had tightened it up. I bled them a couple of additional times, and always made sure the bleeder was tight ? but it kept leaking. I finally took the broader view, and realized that the fitting that the bleeder valve screws in to was a bit loose ? it is an NPT fitting, and needed a little additional encouragement to stop seeping.
3) A little wheel pant damage ? we must have had a rock kick up between the left tire and pant, and it took a little chunk out of the rear corner of the tire opening, and cracked the pant about an inch from the opening for several inches. No problem ? this took about ten minutes of work, and a couple of hours of cure time ? then it was back to flying. Just glad it isn?t painted yet! We might open up the clearances another quarter inch.
4) Comm 1 seemed to have a limited transmit range, and it wasn?t receiving AWOS?s very well either. Gee?.you should be able to talk to the moon with a GNS 430W. Of course, it works a lot better if the BNC connector is properly seated on the antenna?..that just took a floor panel pull to chase down.
5) We have had a little cracking of the inboard lower skin of the left flap ? the little piece that sticks out to fair into the fuselage. This is very thin skin on the RV-3, and is essentially unsupported. It started cracking at a rivet in the front, and right at the bend (of course!) at the trailing edge. We stopped drilled both, and had no further propagation ? but we?ll do a doubler or a different configuration before paint.
6) We had to replace the G3X ADAHRS right after first flight ? Garmin was VERY fast in getting this out to us. We had a pretty early serial number, and the problem was just with the Air Data board ? they suspected a connector inside the box, and we haven?t had a single bad hit of data with the new box.
7) The rear-most rivet that holds the canopy hinge to the fuselage popped - the head came right off. I attributed this to having the safety cable a little long, and as the canopy opened past vertical, it induced a ?camming? force that pulled up on the hinge. Shortening the cable help a lot. At some point, we?re going to figure out the geometry for a strut.
8) The canopy latch was getting stiff, and I realized that the shaft was sliding ?inboard? through the skirt hole, binding the pushrods. I added a nylon spacer on the shaft between the skirt and the outside handle, holding the handle in position ? it?s much better now (but still stiff!)
9) Left fuel gauge went ?inop? after a few hours. Seems to be an intermittent connection inside the tank ? Dang! Fortunately, we aren?t painted yet, so when we get some downtime after Phase 1, we?ll pull the tank and replace the sender ? new one is on hand already.
10) I am a bit worried about the ventilation ? the round skirt vents we installed are gorgeous, but seem to be embedded in a bad flow area ? they produce mostly noise, and little airflow. We have a set of RV-10 back-seat vents on order that we might install in the fuselage below the longeron ? one or both of these should do the trick.
Overall, the test program has been outstanding! I have done most of the envelope work, and Louise has been working through performance data collection ? which will continue into Phase 2. I have been amazed at how well thigns like gear alignment and trim have worked out - even with a kit this basic, it is hard to screw it up enough to matter. Random errors do seem to cancel out....
The little tweaks we?ve mentioned above have not diminished our enjoyment and satisfaction one bit ? this is without a doubt, a pilot?s airplane!
Paul