Side hustle this weekend, so pushed out Monday’s edition when I had a free moment. Hope you had a really nice weekend.
v/r,dr
dr
First Flight: Randolf Gruener’s RV-10 | Westover, Massachusetts. RV-10 #41424
Daily RV Pic
….Vlad submits a beaut.
Mexican Mountain backcountry airstrip in Utah. The ground is still soft.
tom paul
RE: RV14/10 (Maybe others?) Rudder Fairing Light Cutout Delete
…mulde35d reply
Honestly, it was not hard. Last picture is after primer, you would never know a difference
RE: Engine driven fuel pump inlet fitting torque
RE: Building in shop without enough space to mate the wings
…PhatRV reply
I live in a small house that was built in the post-WW2 years. My garage cannot fit the plane with the wings, even when they are position in diagonal. I mounted the wings outside for one day to align the incidence angle and to drill the rear spar. After 24 hours, one wing was removed and the plane with 1 wing moved back inside the garage. There was very little room inside the garage. After the flap and aileron were fitted and aligned, the entire contraption was rolled outside the driveway, the wing was removed and the other wing was mounted on. The process was repeated.
This is the photo when the plane was outside the driveway with the wing incidence was checked and rear spars were pilot drilled. As you can see, the entire airplane could not fit inside the small garage. But with careful measurements, everything was came out okay. The airplane flies straight.
Q/A
Kizad
A:
Watzlavick
RE: Elevator Alignment …Mikeyb reply
I like you, agonized over that alignment. The alignment of the elevator rotation axis is probably more important than anything else. It’s really a kinematic nightmare to align the lines between the hinge points, the center bearing and the 4 rod ends. The line through my HS hinges was not perfectly straight nor do I think it’s possible with the construction tolerances the kit uses. Plus that due to the nature of the rod ends the minimum adjustment you can make is limited to a half turn of the rod end thread .025” IIRC.
What I decided to do was go ahead and get a decent match of the skins keeping the rod end measurement as close as I could and drilled the arm to the center bearing. Then I put it together with the inboard hinge bolt without a nut and moved the elevator over its range of travel and checked to see if there was binding by verifying the bolt would still slide back and fourth in hinge/rod ends. if it didn’t I would move the rod end half a turn to see if I could minimize it. I think I might have moved one. In the end it seems to work and fly wonderfully.
Speaking of Fuel Caps …Foghorn
Went to fly the plane today. When I was visually checking the fuel my left fuel cap pin broke. It’s been on the plane for over three years.
This is another reason to have a spare fuel cap in your tool bag. Took me a few minutes to replace and go fly.
OFF TOPIC:
Get your VansAirForce.net Charity Cap!
Please consider donating yearly to help keep this American 1-person pirate ship afloat:
Older issues of the ‘VAF News’ can be found at:
THE VAF LIST (a list of RV-related lists)
v/r,dr
dr
WDYDWYRTW? 3 / 22-23 / 2025
Getting this weekend's thread started. Here's the RV activity in a slice of the United States at 11 AM Dallas, Texas time. Hope you're having a wonderful weekend. v/r,dr
vansairforce.net
First Flight: Randolf Gruener’s RV-10 | Westover, Massachusetts. RV-10 #41424
First Flight: Randolf Gruener’s RV-10 | Westover, Massachusetts. RV-10 #41424
https://www.vansaircraft.com/first-flights/randolf-grueners-rv-10/ Congrats, Mr. Gruener!!!!
vansairforce.net
Daily RV Pic
….Vlad submits a beaut.
Mexican Mountain backcountry airstrip in Utah. The ground is still soft.
tom paul
Seeking opinions/advice. looking to upgrade my panel but in a hybrid cost-effective way
Greetings to the esteemed VAF Brain Trust! An in-op oil temp gauge while flying the other day has made me realize that perhaps it is time for some panel upgrades. Sorry for the long post, but if you have the time, I would love to get some opinions here. I love my old-school panel in some...
vansairforce.net
RE: RV14/10 (Maybe others?) Rudder Fairing Light Cutout Delete
…mulde35d reply
Honestly, it was not hard. Last picture is after primer, you would never know a difference
RV14/10 (Maybe others?) Rudder Fairing Light Cutout Delete
Looking for tips on how to remove the light cutout on a 14/10 bottom rudder fairing where no tail light is planned. I'm okay (amature hour) with fiberglass work and just grinding it off, filling, and shaping it seems to be the only way I know how to do it and am concerned about adding...
vansairforce.net
RE: Engine driven fuel pump inlet fitting torque
Engine driven fuel pump inlet fitting torque
This is one of those fittings with straight threads and an O-ring. I ran it snug up against the body of the fuel pump. when the hose is attached it can still rotate a bit so I put a wrench on it when I tightened the hose nut. Is this normal or am I missing something?
vansairforce.net
RE: Building in shop without enough space to mate the wings
…PhatRV reply
I live in a small house that was built in the post-WW2 years. My garage cannot fit the plane with the wings, even when they are position in diagonal. I mounted the wings outside for one day to align the incidence angle and to drill the rear spar. After 24 hours, one wing was removed and the plane with 1 wing moved back inside the garage. There was very little room inside the garage. After the flap and aileron were fitted and aligned, the entire contraption was rolled outside the driveway, the wing was removed and the other wing was mounted on. The process was repeated.
This is the photo when the plane was outside the driveway with the wing incidence was checked and rear spars were pilot drilled. As you can see, the entire airplane could not fit inside the small garage. But with careful measurements, everything was came out okay. The airplane flies straight.
Building in shop without enough space to mate the wings
I am assisting with a student team build. We have plenty of hands, and work in 3-4 hour sessions. Soon, we'll be into the sections where we need to have the wings on, and the space isn't big enough. How practical is it to mate/demate the wings each work session, so we can work outside? There...
vansairforce.net
Q/A
Kizad
usher Fuel Cap
Hi! I am having an issue with my RV9 fuel cap. I busted the pin in the fuel cap a while back and ordered a replacement cap which promptly broke when I was trying to adjust it. These seem to be very poorly designed with major weak spots on the pin and latch. I'm looking at probably another...
vansairforce.net
Watzlavick
Open rivet holes after door installation
I'm about to clean up the door gaps on my RV-10 and wondering if the rivet holes in the fuselage that were left open for door alignment need to be filled (see arrow for example). I didn't see any rivet callouts for them in the plans but I suppose I could try to dimple it or maybe just CSK them...
vansairforce.net
RE: Elevator Alignment …Mikeyb reply
I like you, agonized over that alignment. The alignment of the elevator rotation axis is probably more important than anything else. It’s really a kinematic nightmare to align the lines between the hinge points, the center bearing and the 4 rod ends. The line through my HS hinges was not perfectly straight nor do I think it’s possible with the construction tolerances the kit uses. Plus that due to the nature of the rod ends the minimum adjustment you can make is limited to a half turn of the rod end thread .025” IIRC.
What I decided to do was go ahead and get a decent match of the skins keeping the rod end measurement as close as I could and drilled the arm to the center bearing. Then I put it together with the inboard hinge bolt without a nut and moved the elevator over its range of travel and checked to see if there was binding by verifying the bolt would still slide back and fourth in hinge/rod ends. if it didn’t I would move the rod end half a turn to see if I could minimize it. I think I might have moved one. In the end it seems to work and fly wonderfully.
Elevator Alignment
What is the critical dimension on the elevator alignment? Is it having the rod ends exactly 13/16 high, or having the counterweight arm exactly parallel with the lateral HS edge? I think that is is the counterweight arm, with the rode ends 13/16 min to a max 7/8 per the drawing. Does that...
vansairforce.net
Speaking of Fuel Caps …Foghorn
Went to fly the plane today. When I was visually checking the fuel my left fuel cap pin broke. It’s been on the plane for over three years.
This is another reason to have a spare fuel cap in your tool bag. Took me a few minutes to replace and go fly.
usher Fuel Cap
Hi! I am having an issue with my RV9 fuel cap. I busted the pin in the fuel cap a while back and ordered a replacement cap which promptly broke when I was trying to adjust it. These seem to be very poorly designed with major weak spots on the pin and latch. I'm looking at probably another...
vansairforce.net
OFF TOPIC:
Get your VansAirForce.net Charity Cap!
VAF Charity Cap: Help your charity and promote this site.
Get the cap all the cool kids are wearing! I don’t get a penny. It’s around $15. $5 more if you want your N-number on the back (I put 'STAFF' on the back of mine because it makes me laugh. Put STAFF on yours too if it makes you smile). And down the road $10 to the charity of your choice...
vansairforce.net
Please consider donating yearly to help keep this American 1-person pirate ship afloat:
Older issues of the ‘VAF News’ can be found at:
Doug's Area ...The VAF News, About VAF, My Resume
Pushed out every now and then.
www.vansairforce.net
THE VAF LIST (a list of RV-related lists)
THE VAF LIST (a list of RV-related lists)
The VAF List ...a list of RV-related lists. RV-related things you might want to browse over (a closed post that is sticky and maintained by dr). Link to this in 'Links' in the menu. v/r,dr Small businesses that help bring you this list of RV-related lists: 360 Avionics www.360Avionics.com Ace...
vansairforce.net
