The latest issue of the RV Builder's Hotline has been posted. It has already been sent out but I'm guessing most of them aren't reaching their intended subscribers. Sorry. Go here.
This will probably be the last Hotline for a while.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
RV Builder's Hotline posted
The latest issue of the RV Builder's Hotline has been posted. It has already been sent out but I'm guessing most of them aren't reaching their intended subscribers. Sorry. Go here.
This will probably be the last Hotline for a while.
The visitors
There are several stages to building an RV. There's the empennage kit, the wings kit, the fuselage kit, the finishing kit, and the when-the-hell-are-you-going-to-get-this-finished kit.
That last kit is usually delivered anytime you leave your hangar door open, and it's the part of the kit that I think I enjoy the most. An open hangar door is an invitation to visitors and, apparently, a lot of the RV-building community doesn't like visitors because I see the mostly-closed doors all the time, and people have told me that they can't get any work done if people are always popping in to see what you're doing.
Fair enough. But if I were a heartier soul, I'd open my hangar door in the dead of winter; I enjoy people stopping by that much. As I've written before -- perhaps ad nauseam -- building your own airplane is fun, but meeting the people along the way is much more entertaining.
Over the summer, I'd just laid down some fiberglass cloth on a bed of resin and the clock was running when something blocked the sun. It was a gentleman from Arizona who used to live in these parts, and was out flying the RV-4 he built, that his daughter now owns in the hangar across the way. I couldn't shake his hand, and I couldn't even look at him, but we had a nice visit nonethless.
The greatest Oshkosh week ever (for me) was 2007. My building pal, Warren Starkebaum, was camping with me, we had a terrific (if final) RV Builder's BBQ, guys like Darwin Barrie, Glenn Brasch, Brad Oliver, and Chuck Jensen were around (I know, I left a lot of you off that list. See?), and John Porter and Chuck Stone were camping across the way.
You may remember John from a previous posting.
Earlier this month, John and I were communicating by e-mail when I realized he's a pilot for Delta. Delta recently took over the hometown airline in Flyover Country, Northwest Airlines, and it occurred to me that perhaps he's flying into the area now.
He checked his list of upcoming flights and, sure enough, he was. Yahtzee! He was going to swap the trip out for one to the Caribbean, but an RV visit in the dead of winter is better than fruity drinks in the warmth of the beach. We made arrangements to get together for dinner on Tuesday the 20th.
On his flight up from Atlanta, he mentioned to his first officer that he was going to be visiting a guy building an RV and the F.O. mentioned that he had never seen an experimental project before. When John called upon landing, I suggested we head over to ye olde hangar and look at the project, and then have dinner and, sure, bring Jim along.
As is custom in Flyover Country, it was about 5 degrees (as I write this the temperature has just risen above freezing for the first time since December), perfect weather for a guy who lives in Georgia!
We headed to the hangar and I fired up the propane heater which serves no other purpose than to keep a minimal amount of circulation in frozen toes until the ambulance crew arrives and they can be amputated correctly.
I peeled back the tarp and gave John and Jim a good look at the plane, showed off the various subkits, and opened the crate with the spiffy Mattituck IO-360, making sure in particular that Jim, who did not pack for a visit to an ice-cold, unheated hangar, stayed in the (literally) line of fire to keep warm.
John, bless his heart, said all the right things, including that the project looks great. And I think Jim had a good time, too. I'm always concerned when I start gassing on about the project, that I've strayed into the Class B (for boring) airspace.
After the visit, we headed back to downtown St. Paul, and had an enjoyable dinner at a local brew-pub. John brought along a CD he made of a cross-country tour in his RV-8 he made with his father-in-law. I'd give anything to get a copy of it because I think it'd make a fabulous presentation or the RV Builder's Hotline). I had my laptop with me and after dinner, there we sat in the quiet restaurant (the Minnesota Wild pre-game crowd had headed for the arena by then), watching the CD, telling flying stories and having a great old time. By the way, as it turns out, Jim is from Marlboro, Mass., not far from where I'm from, and home of the first radio job I ever had.
I had to be up in Ely, Minnesota by 9 the next morning (it's a four-hour drive) and Jim and John had an early wake-up call for their return flight to Atlanta. It was a most enjoyable visit. John wrote yesterday that on the flight back, Jim said, "I've never had more fun on a layover." We've created a future RVer, I'm sure.
John will, no doubt, be back from time to time in the warmer weather, and perhaps we can entice a first officer that there's no better fun to be had during a layover than hanging an engine.
You folks with the closed hangar doors don't know what you're missing.
Monday, January 26, 2009
How to run an FBO into the ground
The FBO where I rent a Piper Warrior about every 90 days is a "keystone species." Whether it lives or dies will determine whether aviation does. It is -- or at least was -- one of the largest in Minnesota. It oozed professionalism and I started going there about 8 years ago even though it requires me drive clear across the Twin Cities.
So it's a little depressing to go there these days -- or to log onto their Web site and see only one Piper Warrior is available (they've got heavy into Cessna 172s).
Today I wanted to do a little lunch hour flying and when I drove into the parking lot, only one Warrior and one Cessna were on its massive ramp. And they were parked fairly far away from the building, the significance of which I immediately surmised.
It was 2 degrees and I know what happens to airplanes when it's 2 degrees outside, especially when they're parked too far away from the building to be plugged in to keep the oil stirred.
Another Warrior was in the open hangar.
I was invited to pre-flight the one in the hangar and when I got there, I knew I was screwed. The oil heater was plugged in, but when I pulled the dipstick, there was frost on it, and the oil was the consistency of peanut butter. But I pressed on anyway, even though it was clear there was no power to the heating element.
After a pre-flight and with frozen fingers, I tried starting it. The prop turned, but never caught despite all of my cold-weather-starting tricks. No plane is going to start when it's 2 degrees without the benefit of an engine preheater.
And that's my point. They knew I was coming. Where was the engine preheat? Why wasn't it going so that when I got there, I could preflight and give it a chance to start.
As I was packing away my gear after 6 tries, the lineman knocked on the window and said, "I'm going to put a preheater on it."
I said, "OK," at first but then modified it to "don't bother, I've got to get back to work."
As I dropped the keys back off inside, there were apologies all around and I was sad more than mad. I'm sad that the people who still have jobs in the American economy don't understand the wonders of customer service. I was sad that aviation is going to be killed off partly because of the people who work in it.
It was just a stinkin' preheater. And I was just a customer who's going to start looking around for another place to rent an airplane.
So it's a little depressing to go there these days -- or to log onto their Web site and see only one Piper Warrior is available (they've got heavy into Cessna 172s).
Today I wanted to do a little lunch hour flying and when I drove into the parking lot, only one Warrior and one Cessna were on its massive ramp. And they were parked fairly far away from the building, the significance of which I immediately surmised.
It was 2 degrees and I know what happens to airplanes when it's 2 degrees outside, especially when they're parked too far away from the building to be plugged in to keep the oil stirred.
Another Warrior was in the open hangar.
I was invited to pre-flight the one in the hangar and when I got there, I knew I was screwed. The oil heater was plugged in, but when I pulled the dipstick, there was frost on it, and the oil was the consistency of peanut butter. But I pressed on anyway, even though it was clear there was no power to the heating element.
After a pre-flight and with frozen fingers, I tried starting it. The prop turned, but never caught despite all of my cold-weather-starting tricks. No plane is going to start when it's 2 degrees without the benefit of an engine preheater.
And that's my point. They knew I was coming. Where was the engine preheat? Why wasn't it going so that when I got there, I could preflight and give it a chance to start.
As I was packing away my gear after 6 tries, the lineman knocked on the window and said, "I'm going to put a preheater on it."
I said, "OK," at first but then modified it to "don't bother, I've got to get back to work."
As I dropped the keys back off inside, there were apologies all around and I was sad more than mad. I'm sad that the people who still have jobs in the American economy don't understand the wonders of customer service. I was sad that aviation is going to be killed off partly because of the people who work in it.
It was just a stinkin' preheater. And I was just a customer who's going to start looking around for another place to rent an airplane.
Friday, January 23, 2009
David and Mary Maib's RV-10
It seems like only yesterday that David Maib walked up my driveway, introduced himself, and checked out the RV-7A project in my garage. He was thinking of building an RV airplane. At the time, I don't think the RV-10 had been announced yet but it shortly was and David and Mary pitched in. And how, they pitched in!
"I decided this wasn't going to be a 10-year project and that if we were going to build an airplane, we really were going to commit to it," he told me this evening when their RV-10 was rolled out of the Wipaire paint facility and a reception was held.
Rare was the time when one or -- more often -- both weren't at their hangar at Fleming Field in South St. Paul. And in a little over two years, they finished their airplane. They'll fly it out Monday or Tuesday to their new home in (if memory serves) New Smyrna Beach, Florida. Minnesota will wave a fond farewell with one last night of -15 temperatures.
No matter, the RV-10 is tucked safely into Wipaire's huge hangar, between a couple of Beavers and a Caravan. Their new airplane puts the others to shame, which is saying something since the other planes are darned beautiful in their own right.
Mary came up with the paint design. "I wanted gold flames," she told me over the summer and again tonight. Wipaire's artist presented her with some drawings and she said they were perfect.
The hardest part of the building process? "Writing checks," David said.
You can see the new plane at Sun 'n Fun in Lakeland Florida in April. They probably won't make it to Oshkosh this year.
I look forward to seeing them again. Building N614EF won't be the same without having them nearby.
(Click the images for original size)
Saturday, January 17, 2009
It's just a battery
There are times in the course of building this RV-7A airplane that I've thought that -- next to going for a ride in an RV (which doesn't happen anywhere near as often as it should -- you guys who are flying see the hint there, right?), that ordering something -- anything -- from Van's Aircraft is the best motivator to continued building.
There's something about getting something new -- and even paying the continuously rising shipping charges (I could buy a prop for what I've spent just in shipping, handling and postage over the past 8 years!) that creates an indicator of progress. And for many homebuilders of airplanes, a sense of progress is important.
Last night another box appeared on the front step, this time it was the battery for the plane, as well as a bracket for the installation of cables, two restrictor fittings -- one for the oil pressure port on the engine -- and assorted clamps I'm going to need for bundling wires.
Even though the temperature this week has been around -20 on occasion and there isn't a way in hell or heaven I'm going to spend time at the unheated hangar, it warmed my heart. Even though my electrical system plans are still mostly in my head and not on paper, a sign of progress on the electrical system is just what I needed.
These parts are different. They're slightly outside of my "comfort zone" (that's the zone you create for yourself when you've been working on a subkit for the last year or so and you know the drawings and instructions almost by heart.), and, even better, they're the parts I remember seeing on so many trips to Web sites like those run by Dan Checkoway, or Walter Tondu, or Dave Parsons. They're the parts they talked about -- the parts I had no idea what they were for -- shortly before they flew their airplanes for the first time.
Granted, they all had more time -- and I'm pretty sure, money -- than I do so all of these steps have to be measured in Bob Years®, but nonetheless it was a reminder that my plane will fly someday, someday soon (in Bob Years®). I even allowed myself to think -- for at least a moment -- that that time will probably come in late 2010. That was shortly before I went to bed and woke up thinking of the reasons why it won't be late 2010. No, best to plug ahead, one step at a time, one shipping & handling charge at a time, one part at a time, and let things happen when they happen.
Having received my Van's reminder of progress, I closed the box back up, labeled its contents, and put it down on the shelf downstairs with the other boxes of uninstalled parts.
One of these days, spring will come, and so will actual progress.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Flying weather?
It's -21 in my corner of flyover country today and I haven't heard a peep from my flying friends in the American southwest. I hope they're alright. As a humorist-friend (James Lileks) in this neck of the woods observed today, "it's -21, but it's a dry heat."
A question for aviators? Is this flying weather? I'm still a renter and the FBO won't release a plane in this weather, even if the engine did start. But for you owners, would you fly in this? It's a gorgeous sunny day and we presume the dense air would make any plane fly like a rocket.
As an RV builder, I wonder about the plexiglass canopy.
Oh, and I only put one heater box on the RV-7A project.
A question for aviators? Is this flying weather? I'm still a renter and the FBO won't release a plane in this weather, even if the engine did start. But for you owners, would you fly in this? It's a gorgeous sunny day and we presume the dense air would make any plane fly like a rocket.
As an RV builder, I wonder about the plexiglass canopy.
Oh, and I only put one heater box on the RV-7A project.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Beginning installation of the VP-50 in an RV-7A
There is no documentation, as far as I know, of an install of the Vertical Power 50 in an RV-7A. The VP-50 is the low-end version of the solid-state electrical management system, that eliminates (for the most part) circuit breakers and fuses. This will be the brain of my electrical system and after weeks away from any substantial progress on the RV-7A, I figured it was time to get serious. So I've set up a VP-50 category for folks in the future who want to see how this system fits.
The heart of the system is the control unit, which essentially is the main electrical buss. It takes power from the battery and distributes it to my various electrical goodies. I'll install the battery in a few weeks.
I wasn't sure where to mount the control unit. The instructions recommend some aluminum angle brackets to be installed between the subpanel and the firewall but I didn't like this system for a few reasons. First, if you install it on the right side of the plane, you'll run into problems with the brake lines coming off the reservoir (at least if you have a dual brake system as I do). If you put it in the middle, you'll need to mount it near the center recess in the firewall. Didn't want to do that. And if you mount it on the left side, you're that much farther from the battery and the ground tabs I've already mounted on the firewall. I want short runs.
So I ran a bracket width-wise across the two subpanel ribs. Just cut two pieces of .063 3/4 x 3/4 angle to roughly 19" lengths. Cut the flange on one side at each end and by about 7/8" to allow the other flange to sit under the flange of the subpanel ribs.
I fit one bracket about 1 3/4" forward of the subpanel, drilled two #19 holes for two #8 screws. I elected not to put nutplates in the flange of the subpanel rib and will use screws and nuts instead. I obviously didn't rivet the angle either. Riveting is forever and I'm not entirely sure that something else down the road won't require me to move things, and this gives me the flexibility to do that.
Anyway, I installed one angle and then clamped the other angle to the subpanel ribs and adjusted it so that each bracket was flush with the control box. I marked the location, and removed the control unit. Then I drilled the aluminum angle to the flanges of the subpanel and installed the screws and nuts.
The next step is to install nutplates in the angle to mount the control unit. I elected to use AN-3 bolts (a #12 hole) instead of screws because I thought it would be easier getting the unit off when and if I needed to, using a socket set. This was a mistake. Some small screws on the VP-50 near the mounting holes very nearly interfere with the bolt. You can't get a socket set around it. In fact, you need to be very careful locating the holes on the angle.
With both angles mounted in place, I got underneath the subpanel and decided where I wanted to mount the control unit, holding it in place, and tracing the mounting slots with a Sharpie onto the angle. For a guy with Meniere's Disease (vertigo), this is the least pleasurable part about working on the panel. Whenever I'm on my back looking up, the ear canal sends weird signals to the brain and I might as well be on a roller coaster. It takes me several minutes after doing this, sitting in the cabin, to let the nausea go away. But you don't exactly ever feel good for the rest of the day.
I then removed one angle and installed a nutplate and bolted the control unit on. I checked to be sure my mark for the other bolt hole was correct (it wasn't) and drilled the next bolt hole, installed a nutplate and bolted the control until to the angle. Then I reinstalled the angle (with the control unit attached), got underneath again and traced slot holes on the angle and marked drill points, removed the angle, attached nutplates and reinstalled.
Voila!
Earlier in the day, I finally removed the fuel boost pump and center cover. I don't know why I installed them a year or so ago. It all has to come out to allow me to run wires down the center, and up some conduit to the subpanel and the VP-50 unit. Of course, I couldn't find the right nuts for the Adel clamp to keep the conduit in place, so I moved on to the VP-50 control unit installation.
After I install the battery and cables, I'll probably start with the flap motor wiring and switch. I've settled on the instrument panel design, so I'll try to find a place to send it to to be professionally cut.
As always, click the image for a bigger size.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
I'm building the world's only vertical induction engine-powered airplane apparently
I love Doug Reeves but there are times I think the bulletin boards at Van's Air Force have gotten too big. You can find a million messages and replies when someone spots a VAF hat somewhere. But quite often if you have a building question, it gets lost among the socializing.
That's one problem. The other problem is people lurk and don't post. Why, I'm not really sure, although it can be intimidating to venture onto any board anywhere that is dominated by a relatively few people.
Nonetheless, if you're an RV builder, you should make "I'll answer another RVer's question more often this year" one of your resolutions for the new year.
And if you can explain this confusing aspect of the vertical induction vs. horizontal induction instructions, I'll make it easy for you.
That's one problem. The other problem is people lurk and don't post. Why, I'm not really sure, although it can be intimidating to venture onto any board anywhere that is dominated by a relatively few people.
Nonetheless, if you're an RV builder, you should make "I'll answer another RVer's question more often this year" one of your resolutions for the new year.
And if you can explain this confusing aspect of the vertical induction vs. horizontal induction instructions, I'll make it easy for you.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
RV Builder's Hotline is posted
The last RV Builder's Hotline (Dated 1/3/09) has been posted. We take a look at Dave Hirschman's flights over the Washington ADIZ, the latest issue of the RVator, and a look at 2008 RV accident statistics.
And, of course, more. Find it here.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Electrical system work
I had hoped to spend the weekend working on finalizing the electrical system for N614EF. I've tried; I really have. I put together the load analysis spreadsheet for the Vertical Power system, and I realize the instructions need to be "dummified" more. Why? Because I'm a dummy, not an electrical engineer.
I'm a writer and if you could design and install an electrical system by turning a phrase or two, I'd have it done by now. To people well-schooled in electronics, a schematic is much easier to implement than subject-verb tense agreement. Everybody's different.
It's still not clear to me, for example, how I supply always-on power to the Dynon unit (which keeps the clock updated etc.). As near as I can tell, the wiring would require a line from the battery, which tells me that there should be some sort of battery buss somewhere under the subpanel somewhere, in a fashion that avoids the Vertical Power control unit altogether.
Vertical Power's Marc Ausman -- a really good guy -- said on VP's support forum, "...anything else will will be powered from the VP-50 or the aux bus (like starter contactor power) which is wired downstream of the battery contactor." I get that, I guess. But it's still not clear to me what that looks like when I lean over and look at someone's RV subpanel.
And therein lies the problem for people like me. We learn by actually SEEING things. I can ruminate for hours over what a schematic tells me about what to do with shielded cable, but it's a lot easier for me to look at that schematic, then go downstairs and pull out the Dynon harness and see what SteinAir did. Voila! Now the schematic makes sense because I saw what it looks like in real life.
This is a typical electrical system schematic:
After spending weeks looking at that, it finally made sense what the philosophy of it was. But what does it look like in an RV airplane? I couldn't tell you, but because this is one of the most common installations, there are enough builder Web sites out there to give me a clue.
And this is also why Van's electrical system instructions are so good for people like me. It approaches building the system this way:
1. Start here.
2. Mount this thing there.
3. Mount the other thing here.
4. Run a wire from this location, to that location and back to this location.
See what I mean? It doesn't give me philosophy, it gives me instructions. And because Van's is helping you build an airplane, they don't just concentrate on their own product and give you only the information pertaining to its product, they tell you the whole shootin' match.
In other words, they're focused on the whole, not on the parts.
Here's an example. Dan Checkoway's excellent Web site carries pictures of the firewall and such things as the ANL limiter. Now, I've read the AeroElectric Connection -- about 13 times. And it sort of makes sense in its philosophical ways, but a site, like Dan's, which says "put this here, put that there, the hambone is connected to the leg bone" is the way instructions should be put together for airplane builders like me.
Unfortunately, that's not possible with a product so new as Vertical Power. Don't get me wrong, it's a great product and the instructions are well written, but because it's such a new product, there aren't any Web sites out there that do for it what sites like Dan's, or Walter Tondu's do for the traditional electric system.
I was out at the hangar yesterday trying to figure out where to mount the Vertical Power-50 control unit. With a traditional unit, you enter your search terms in Google, check however many of the 1,000 RV builder Web sites you want, and do what they did. You can't do that with the Vertical Power system. There's only one RV-7 builder site. Bernie Daenzer and Alex Lichtensteiger's flyvans.com , and they're using the VP-200. Also, it's not a step-by-step Web site.
So, I never really came up with a good solution, partly because I don't know what else I need to fit under the subpanel because there aren't any Web sites with pictures and step-by-steps of installing a complete electrical system.
So what to do now? I have to think some more about whether I'm the right guy to be one of the first builders to install a VP-50. If I am, I'd put together a Web site on how to do it. Or do I want to punt and just go back to the tried-and-true traditional electrical system, and take advantage of the online resources that, as I indicated, are available? A lot depends on the answer to that. I can't send the instrument panel out to be cut until I know whether it will have circuit breakers, for example.
One thing that's great about the VP boys, however, is when you send them your load planning worksheet, they send you back suggestions for how to improve your plan. You gotta love that!
Here's what changes Marc made to mine (including catching my mistakes):
Odd, I don't remember adding an exterior warning light. I don't need it, though.
Here's what my spreadsheet looks like:
Once I fully understand the Vertical Power system, then I have to figure out how to set up a backup system in case it goes south. With the schematic above (the traditional system), you can flip a switch and voila! You're on a backup electrical system. Simple? No, but as I said, enough people have put this system in that you can just look at where they put what and do the same thing.
Vertical Power has drawn out a schematic for a "get home" system here. As near as I can tell, it takes the main battery power, runs it through a fuseblock, and then out to the Vertical Power unit. And then has several switches to bypass the VP-50 if you need to. Philosophically, I get it. I also get that it adds expense back to a system that I'd hoped the VP-50 would cut. What it looks like behind the panel? I haven't a clue.
It's times like this I really appreciate the homebuilders of yesteryear. They had no Internet to compare their projects with. Of course, they didn't have the electrical systems homebuilt aircraft do today.
Meantime, if you have also purchased a Vertical Power 50 system for an RV-7A and you've designed your electric system and have some pictures of your installation (maybe even a step by step guide), by all means, contact me.
One thing I did accomplish yesterday was finalizing the location of the main instrument on the panel -- the Dynon 100.
This will require moving the left rib closer to the center. I also moved the backup airspeed and altimeter to just left of the Dynon (instead of below it) and moved the TruTrak autopilot selector to below the Dynon. I also eliminated one switch. Now I've got to figure out how to get this into some sort of CAD design to take to place that can cut the panel.
I'm a writer and if you could design and install an electrical system by turning a phrase or two, I'd have it done by now. To people well-schooled in electronics, a schematic is much easier to implement than subject-verb tense agreement. Everybody's different.
It's still not clear to me, for example, how I supply always-on power to the Dynon unit (which keeps the clock updated etc.). As near as I can tell, the wiring would require a line from the battery, which tells me that there should be some sort of battery buss somewhere under the subpanel somewhere, in a fashion that avoids the Vertical Power control unit altogether.
Vertical Power's Marc Ausman -- a really good guy -- said on VP's support forum, "...anything else will will be powered from the VP-50 or the aux bus (like starter contactor power) which is wired downstream of the battery contactor." I get that, I guess. But it's still not clear to me what that looks like when I lean over and look at someone's RV subpanel.
And therein lies the problem for people like me. We learn by actually SEEING things. I can ruminate for hours over what a schematic tells me about what to do with shielded cable, but it's a lot easier for me to look at that schematic, then go downstairs and pull out the Dynon harness and see what SteinAir did. Voila! Now the schematic makes sense because I saw what it looks like in real life.
This is a typical electrical system schematic:
After spending weeks looking at that, it finally made sense what the philosophy of it was. But what does it look like in an RV airplane? I couldn't tell you, but because this is one of the most common installations, there are enough builder Web sites out there to give me a clue.
And this is also why Van's electrical system instructions are so good for people like me. It approaches building the system this way:
1. Start here.
2. Mount this thing there.
3. Mount the other thing here.
4. Run a wire from this location, to that location and back to this location.
See what I mean? It doesn't give me philosophy, it gives me instructions. And because Van's is helping you build an airplane, they don't just concentrate on their own product and give you only the information pertaining to its product, they tell you the whole shootin' match.
In other words, they're focused on the whole, not on the parts.
Here's an example. Dan Checkoway's excellent Web site carries pictures of the firewall and such things as the ANL limiter. Now, I've read the AeroElectric Connection -- about 13 times. And it sort of makes sense in its philosophical ways, but a site, like Dan's, which says "put this here, put that there, the hambone is connected to the leg bone" is the way instructions should be put together for airplane builders like me.
Unfortunately, that's not possible with a product so new as Vertical Power. Don't get me wrong, it's a great product and the instructions are well written, but because it's such a new product, there aren't any Web sites out there that do for it what sites like Dan's, or Walter Tondu's do for the traditional electric system.
I was out at the hangar yesterday trying to figure out where to mount the Vertical Power-50 control unit. With a traditional unit, you enter your search terms in Google, check however many of the 1,000 RV builder Web sites you want, and do what they did. You can't do that with the Vertical Power system. There's only one RV-7 builder site. Bernie Daenzer and Alex Lichtensteiger's flyvans.com , and they're using the VP-200. Also, it's not a step-by-step Web site.
So, I never really came up with a good solution, partly because I don't know what else I need to fit under the subpanel because there aren't any Web sites with pictures and step-by-steps of installing a complete electrical system.
So what to do now? I have to think some more about whether I'm the right guy to be one of the first builders to install a VP-50. If I am, I'd put together a Web site on how to do it. Or do I want to punt and just go back to the tried-and-true traditional electrical system, and take advantage of the online resources that, as I indicated, are available? A lot depends on the answer to that. I can't send the instrument panel out to be cut until I know whether it will have circuit breakers, for example.
One thing that's great about the VP boys, however, is when you send them your load planning worksheet, they send you back suggestions for how to improve your plan. You gotta love that!
Here's what changes Marc made to mine (including catching my mistakes):
-Swap the EFIS and 296. The loads were not correct, and Dynon recommends a 3A breaker.
- The flaps draw 4.4 amps under load. So I put them on a 10A circuit. Usually a 5A CB is fine, but sometimes you need more.
- The flaps need to have their own external flap switch, the VP just provides power (unlike the VP-100 and 200 which actually drive the flap motor directly). See VP-50 wiring diagram.
- What trim systems are you installing? The trim is not filled in (some blacked out).
- Do you have a 296 or 496? It is unclear. In either case, it is on its own pin
- I put the aux bus items each on their own pin. You have extra pins.
- I assume the ext warning light is for something else and you just need power? It is now on J8-23
Odd, I don't remember adding an exterior warning light. I don't need it, though.
Here's what my spreadsheet looks like:
Once I fully understand the Vertical Power system, then I have to figure out how to set up a backup system in case it goes south. With the schematic above (the traditional system), you can flip a switch and voila! You're on a backup electrical system. Simple? No, but as I said, enough people have put this system in that you can just look at where they put what and do the same thing.
Vertical Power has drawn out a schematic for a "get home" system here. As near as I can tell, it takes the main battery power, runs it through a fuseblock, and then out to the Vertical Power unit. And then has several switches to bypass the VP-50 if you need to. Philosophically, I get it. I also get that it adds expense back to a system that I'd hoped the VP-50 would cut. What it looks like behind the panel? I haven't a clue.
It's times like this I really appreciate the homebuilders of yesteryear. They had no Internet to compare their projects with. Of course, they didn't have the electrical systems homebuilt aircraft do today.
Meantime, if you have also purchased a Vertical Power 50 system for an RV-7A and you've designed your electric system and have some pictures of your installation (maybe even a step by step guide), by all means, contact me.
One thing I did accomplish yesterday was finalizing the location of the main instrument on the panel -- the Dynon 100.
This will require moving the left rib closer to the center. I also moved the backup airspeed and altimeter to just left of the Dynon (instead of below it) and moved the TruTrak autopilot selector to below the Dynon. I also eliminated one switch. Now I've got to figure out how to get this into some sort of CAD design to take to place that can cut the panel.
Friday, December 26, 2008
No RV Hotline this week
I'm due to publish the RV Builder's Hotline this weekend. However, there is precious little going on in the RV community, there are no "hot" threads anywhere that I can find, nobody has submitted anything to be published and I'd rather not put out a crappy issue.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Another crack at the instrument panel.
Weird. I wrote a lengthy treatise on this version and Blogger lost it, oh well. I was going to go out to the hangar today and do as one of you suggested -- sit in the plane with the seats installed, put some pictures on the panel and see how things look. But it was -10 today. So, instead, I noodled on the idea of moving the support rib in order to put the Dynon D100 directly in front of me.
As you can see above, perhaps, I'll move it a bit to the center (that's the direction people move it, right?). I'll order a new rib because the one that's there now is already riveted to the subpanel, and this way I won't have to be terribly precise in cutting it out of there.
I also moved the switches back to above the throttle. And I moved the VP-50 to just above the switches because I think there's a possibility the 7 and 8 switches on the VP-50 might someday be configured to operate a flap motor. I don't believe it can do that at the moment. I also want to find out if the VP-50 panel unit occupies the same cutout size as the VP-100. I want to keep options open for an upgrade down the line.
And I also moved the GRT engine monitor to above the radio stack, and kept some room for a map box on the right side (I couldn't find a map box on the epanelbuilder.com site, however). But I want to think of that some more because additions to the radio stack down the line might require some space there.
One minor thing -- I moved the "cigarette lighter" to the left side. I don't know how the Zaon traffic unit gets its power but it's a portable unit that I'd put on the glareshield just in front of me so maybe it makes some sense to keep a power source close by.
Thoughts.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)