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The VAF News - 8.21.2025. #6378.

DeltaRomeo

doug reeves: unfluencer
Staff member
Daily Pic(s)
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Rest in Peace Mr. Butch Harrell (RV-6A)
…pilotkms
I was notified by Butch’s daughter that he had a heart attack and died on Saturday August 16.
We had a 3 ship flight to Statesboro KTBR the day before and he was full of life. We discussed the upcoming flyin to Petit Jean and looked forward to going again.
He Purchased his 6A in 2018. Not the builder but he did several build projects on it. He added a step for easier entry. He replaced some of his antique gauges. He replaced his windshield using SikaFlex. He repainted portions & added stripes to the fuselage. He was proud of getting his carbureted 320 to run LOP. With each project I told him he was adding a star to acquiring his Builder Badge.
He & I flew all over the Eastern U.S., about a 1000 hours in the past 7 years. It was great having someone as enthusiastic about flying the RV and the time to do it. Gonna miss that guy.
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Freemasm
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RE Modifying the TG-10 heat box for redirecting dumped air
…Carl Froehlich RV-10
For both RV-10s I did two things to reduce the heat getting blasted back toward the engine when the cabin heat valves are shut:
- Inserted a 3/4” orifice in the 2” SCAT hose coming off the rear baffle, one on each side. The RV-10 has great heat muffs so the extra air is not needed. The side gain is you get more engine cooling air (less air stolen off the top of the engine) and less air is dumped to the lower cowl further enhancing engine cooling.
- I used a piece of KoolMat between the valves and the firewall. The KoolMat is then draped over the valves so dumped air is directed down toward the cowl exit instead of the engine driven fuel pump. The KoolMat also provide a barrier for heat transfer to the tunnel from these valves that are always hot.
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RE Prop cycle on run up
…RVDan
The 3 prop cycles is to move oil through the prop so that the oil in the pitch change cylinder doesn’t get stagnant and to help reduce sludge collection. I do the 3 cycles first flight, then one to verify control operation on subsequent flights on the same day. The pic shows the oil cavity that is dead ended and benefits from the oil cycling.
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Previous Editions at the Ready
…any device you got works fine.
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Older issues of the ‘VAF News’ can be found at:

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