Good mix of build, motivation and funny in today's edition. Hope you like it (and please let me know in a reply here if you think I should put more/less of something in the daily VAF News). And thanks again to you 'badgers' who help keep it afloat!
v/r,dr
RE Nose Gear Lessons Learned
…MacCool
Thought I'd re-open this thread as it now anppears to affect me. I had posted my "off-camber" nose gear problem in a different thread and I'm posting here rather continuing the hijack of that thread.
The issue was my front wheel and axle being off camber...the axle wasn't parallel to the earth and this made engagement of my Best Tug arms on the axle bolt problematic. Many of the posted theories suggested a bent nose gear leg but in discussing it with both @AlexPeterson and @petehowell I was more inclined to focus on the nose gear leg and its securing bolt, one of the foci in this discussion in this thread, which Alex pointed me to. Alex flew up today to help me out a bit with the diagnostic process. Not being a builder, his input provided me with the defining light-bulb moment.
First move was pushing forward on the left wing, applying a little ground yaw. This re-aligned the axle to earth-parallel and the tug engaged the axle for the first time as Mark Patey designed it. Then we unweighted the nose gear did a wiggle test, and sure enough, the nose gear was not secure in the engine mount socket. The gear leg didn't wiggle front/back or side/side...it rotated a bit in the socket along its long axis. This is what was allowing the nose-wheel to sit off-camber and preventing the tug from hitting the axle symmetrically on both ends. Watching the motion clearly while observing the socket/bolt, we could see that the hole in the gear leg is just a bit too big thus creating a bit of rotational slop and that rotation of the gear leg caused the camber of the nosewheel to change. Nose gear leg and engine mount socket appear to be fine. No sign of any wiggle or cracks in the
I'm going to address this, with Alex's guidance, by getting some close-tolerance bolts as described in this thread and seeing if I can re-establish the proper rotational orientation of the nose gear portion of the engine mount.
RE How to dimple near the bend in skins?
…Ralph Inkster
My solution to leading edge dimpling. Gives just enough clearance for that last dimple without the c-channel digging into the other side of the LE bend
Also I support the skins on either side with temporary platforms of 3/4” plywood sitting on some 2x4s, perfect height, infinitely adjustable
& no, I don’t do this on that carpeted table!
enigmakv
F18Sailor
RE Picture request: flap position at the trailing edge in relationship to fuselage bottom.
Wing Tip, - Aileron, - Flap (in reflex full up) level, 24/64 from bottom of flap to bottom of fuselage. Like I've said before 100's of hours at altitudes 8,000 ft to 14,000 ft all kinds of temps downloading .CSV logs and averaging TAS reflex vs in in-trail 0 on average performance difference. One long cross country (I was living half the year in Ohio and half in Florida so plenty of time to collect data in the air) I would get a difference of a knot or two and the next flight a knot or two the other way at best. Most flights less than half a knot difference. Some flights did one hour in trail and the next hour in reflex. There is a slightly noticeable pitch change and slight sight line change but that is it. A waste of a push so I took the pre-programmed 3 degrees out and made reflex -10 degrees first notch from full up, no speed restrictions. Use it if less than 120 knots. CAS alarm if I lower the flaps over 120 knots TAS.
Mike
CZ79
mothership
climbak Update
Some progress made the last few weeks. I finished the horizontal, mostly finished the vertical, just waiting on a hinge bracket I was missing to get delivered so I can rivet it together. Finished the rudder too except 8 rivets that I needed to order some longer ones for and bend the leading edges. Next up are the elevators and then I can start fitting them to the plane.
I've also finally mounted the new throttle quadrant and waiting on some aluminum to show up so I can bend up a cable offset bracket. The new panel has been fitted and work to redo the rats nest of wiring has started including a new mounting tray in front of the panel so I can organize everything better and have something to mount the radio tray and center console bits to.
And I changed my original paint scheme plan to something much more simple because I really want to fly this thing again someday.
OFF TOPIC:
Please consider donating yearly to help keep this American 1-person pirate ship afloat:
Get your VansAirForce.net Charity Cap!
Older issues of the ‘VAF News’ can be found at:
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v/r,dr
RE Nose Gear Lessons Learned
…MacCool
Thought I'd re-open this thread as it now anppears to affect me. I had posted my "off-camber" nose gear problem in a different thread and I'm posting here rather continuing the hijack of that thread.
The issue was my front wheel and axle being off camber...the axle wasn't parallel to the earth and this made engagement of my Best Tug arms on the axle bolt problematic. Many of the posted theories suggested a bent nose gear leg but in discussing it with both @AlexPeterson and @petehowell I was more inclined to focus on the nose gear leg and its securing bolt, one of the foci in this discussion in this thread, which Alex pointed me to. Alex flew up today to help me out a bit with the diagnostic process. Not being a builder, his input provided me with the defining light-bulb moment.
First move was pushing forward on the left wing, applying a little ground yaw. This re-aligned the axle to earth-parallel and the tug engaged the axle for the first time as Mark Patey designed it. Then we unweighted the nose gear did a wiggle test, and sure enough, the nose gear was not secure in the engine mount socket. The gear leg didn't wiggle front/back or side/side...it rotated a bit in the socket along its long axis. This is what was allowing the nose-wheel to sit off-camber and preventing the tug from hitting the axle symmetrically on both ends. Watching the motion clearly while observing the socket/bolt, we could see that the hole in the gear leg is just a bit too big thus creating a bit of rotational slop and that rotation of the gear leg caused the camber of the nosewheel to change. Nose gear leg and engine mount socket appear to be fine. No sign of any wiggle or cracks in the
I'm going to address this, with Alex's guidance, by getting some close-tolerance bolts as described in this thread and seeing if I can re-establish the proper rotational orientation of the nose gear portion of the engine mount.
Nose Gear Lessons Learned
IF you have gotten this far - - Here is a summary of the thread in a single downloadable document. Feel free to make improvements. I will send you the WORD file to do so. With the new VAF server it is now possible to post as a PDF. Enjoy the "Nose Gear Lessons Learned" PDF
vansairforce.net
RE How to dimple near the bend in skins?
…Ralph Inkster
My solution to leading edge dimpling. Gives just enough clearance for that last dimple without the c-channel digging into the other side of the LE bend
Also I support the skins on either side with temporary platforms of 3/4” plywood sitting on some 2x4s, perfect height, infinitely adjustable
& no, I don’t do this on that carpeted table!
How to dimple near the bend in skins?
I've tried a few things and I just can't seem to get a good dimple in the forward part of skins with a bend. - I tried the cleveland close quarters dimple dies (uisng a blind rivet puller) but those made a very shallow dimple that the rivet head sits proud of. - I tried bending the skin back...
vansairforce.net
enigmakv
Manifold Pressure variation
I recently purchased an RV-14A and could not be happier. I have flown it about 17 hours so far including the x/c home to Phoenix from the Minneapolis area. I am noticing that the manifold pressure readings on the G3X are pretty variable (see included screen shot from one of the flights). The...
vansairforce.net
F18Sailor
GRT Mini-X Heading Anomaly
I'm curious if anyone here has a Mini-X installed next to either a Dynon or Garmin primary EFIS system? My Mini-X heading is often 20°, sometimes 50° off from my Dynon setup; the Dynon setup makes sense (east is actually east, for example), and the winds aloft vector computed by the Dynon setup...
vansairforce.net
RE Picture request: flap position at the trailing edge in relationship to fuselage bottom.
Wing Tip, - Aileron, - Flap (in reflex full up) level, 24/64 from bottom of flap to bottom of fuselage. Like I've said before 100's of hours at altitudes 8,000 ft to 14,000 ft all kinds of temps downloading .CSV logs and averaging TAS reflex vs in in-trail 0 on average performance difference. One long cross country (I was living half the year in Ohio and half in Florida so plenty of time to collect data in the air) I would get a difference of a knot or two and the next flight a knot or two the other way at best. Most flights less than half a knot difference. Some flights did one hour in trail and the next hour in reflex. There is a slightly noticeable pitch change and slight sight line change but that is it. A waste of a push so I took the pre-programmed 3 degrees out and made reflex -10 degrees first notch from full up, no speed restrictions. Use it if less than 120 knots. CAS alarm if I lower the flaps over 120 knots TAS.
Picture request: flap position at the trailing edge in relationship to fuselage bottom.
Hi, I'm trying to make some determinations around rigging. Wondering if a flying RV14 could post a picture of their flap position at the trailing edge in relationship to fuselage bottom - when they are all the way up to the -3 degree reflex position. E.g. how much up are they from the fuse...
vansairforce.net
Mike
Lycoming 390 Rocker Shaft Clearance Cyl 4
I am a new owner of an RV14A. 330h on the engine and a sticky valve. There seems to be very little clearance for angle valve cyl 4 exhaust rocker valve shaft. See picture. Would this clearance typically work for pushing out the shaft part of the way to remove the rocker? If not, any suggestiojs...
vansairforce.net
CZ79
F-705 question
So the plans say to omit these rivets (Note 1, the six ones in the rectangle). Does this apply to both sides? The pattern is the same, but the drawing only shows it on one side. Just wondering if you all could help me out before I call the mothership.
vansairforce.net
mothership
First Flight: Ken Bochman’s RV-10 | Hot Springs AR. KHOT
Ken Bochman’s RV-10 | Hot Springs AR. KHOT RV-10 #42607 Ken Bochman writes: Greetings from a 3rd time builder. I finished my RV-14A in 2018, helped and mentored my neighbor Scott Stone with his RV-7A after that, and recently finished my RV-10 with his help on my project. I guess I just wasn’t...
vansairforce.net
climbak Update
Some progress made the last few weeks. I finished the horizontal, mostly finished the vertical, just waiting on a hinge bracket I was missing to get delivered so I can rivet it together. Finished the rudder too except 8 rivets that I needed to order some longer ones for and bend the leading edges. Next up are the elevators and then I can start fitting them to the plane.
I've also finally mounted the new throttle quadrant and waiting on some aluminum to show up so I can bend up a cable offset bracket. The new panel has been fitted and work to redo the rats nest of wiring has started including a new mounting tray in front of the panel so I can organize everything better and have something to mount the radio tray and center console bits to.
And I changed my original paint scheme plan to something much more simple because I really want to fly this thing again someday.
RV-4 #4175 Fastback Conversion
My 4 is down for a bit for a several little projects, like elevator reskinning due to some cracking, adding a light to the tail, possibly electric trim, fiberglass repair due to some less than perfect fits over the years, etc. While it's down, I decided to make it way worse for time and money...
vansairforce.net
OFF TOPIC:
Please consider donating yearly to help keep this American 1-person pirate ship afloat:
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
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
