Enlarging the flap rod push hole

I got an e-mail via Van's Air Force earlier this week that my article on how to enlarge the hole in the bottom of the fuselage for the flap rod is no longer posted online. It's possible I'd submitted a message on VAF with a link to the Expercraft site, when the RV Builder's Hotline was hosted there. But it actually is on the current Hotline Web site. Here's the link. Do your thing, Google.

A few tips

A year ago at this time, I was struggling -- and I mean struggling -- with the fiberglass fairing around the front of my RV-7A's canopy. Fiberglass was a foreign land to me. All that sanding, and to what end?

This has been a weird summer for me in many ways. Most notably, however, is that of all of the around-the-house chores and the RV-7A airplane project goals I had for the summer, I've now completed all of them. Mostly, anyway. That's my story and I'm sticking with it.

Fiberglass is a warm-weather activity and the hangar is not heated for winter work, so this summer I tackled the fiberglass work on the tips.

This evening, I finished the tip of the vertical stabilizer. Can you find the seam between the fiberglass and the metal here?



It's not clear to me just how perfect I'm supposed to get these. I'm trying to get rid of every pinhole but how much of this is done now, and how much is done when I'm -- or someone else is -- preparing it for painting? I'm choosing to get them as nice as I can.

When I started on the elevator tips a few weeks ago, I think it took me at least two weeks.



I moved onto the horizontal stabilizer tips, and that probably took a week:



The vertical stabilizer tip probably took 5 days.



I try to stop off at the hangar for an hour in the morning and an hour or two in the evening.

But now I'm working on a fairly major part, the rudder. It has a fiberglass tip on the top, and a fairly large one on the bottom, that also houses the wiring for the tail light and strobe.

I started that on Sunday, today -- after spending two days getting the joint smooth, I added the fiberglass.



The hardest part about glass work now is keeping my epoxy-laden fingers off other parts of the rudder. I've generally failed in that so I'll have to sand it off.

It'll probably be mid week next week before this part is finished. But that's it for fiberglass work for the "season." I still have plenty to do. The wheel pants and fairings haven't been done yet, and the cowling hasn't been fitted, let alone fiberglassed.

This evening, by the way, I passed 2,000 hours of construction time on the project. There's still plenty of work to be done.

Oh, did you figure out where the seam was? Maybe this will help. Here's what the part looked like a few days ago.

Who built this RV-10?

I've written in the past about how some builder assistance operations are going to kill the golden goose -- forcing the FAA to scrap the homebuilt/amateur-built category because of people who are cheating.

Perhaps you saw this article on an RV-10(members) in the most recent AOPA Magazine. It turns out the gentleman says he didn't build it; someone else did.

You'll want to read this thread on the Matronics list for all the details.

You may also wish to listen to this week's podcast of Uncontrolled Airspace, in which Amy Laboda tries to explain why this is such a huge deal.

(Photo: Mark Pasqualino)

RV Builder's Hotline article: What's the best brake fluid for an RV?

If I were still producing the RV Builder's Hotline, I'd make this week's story about brake fluid, based on a thread that's broken out on the RV Yahoogroup. But most of my Hotline curiosity is now being channeled here, so I've organized some of the various links and information on the subject and posted it on the Hotline Web site, which remains fully open.

Probe: Airplane flown by Pt. Pleasant Beach man traveling 164 mph at time of crash

From APP.com

A small airplane built and flown by a Point Pleasant Beach man was traveling at about 164 mph when it crashed into the Shark River estuary last year, according to a federal investigative report.
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The pilot, Richard J. Jahns, 45, was killed in the July 5, 2008, crash. His body was recovered two days later, along with parts of the plane.

The plane's speed on impact was among the tidbits of information contained in the factual report released earlier this week by the National Transportation Safety Board.

A year to come up with the factual report?

Two killed in RV-6 crash

The crash of the single-engine RV-6 airplane occurred at the St. Charles Parish (Louisiana)Airport about 4:20 p.m. on Sunday. The plane veered left on takeoff and crashed into some woods near the end of the runway, said St. Charles Sheriff's Office spokesman Sgt. Dwayne LaGrange. Killed were James F. Miller, 61, of Gretna, and Lt. Col. Wendell Lee Collins, 42, of Hickory, N.C. (more from NOLA.com) Registration

The discussion about plane crashes has been an ongoing one in recent months. A thread on VAF that I started was deleted because subsequent comments, from what I understand, strained some sensibilities.

Is there something we can learn about accidents prior to a final NTSB report? Can we bring an educated viewpoint to analyze the data that is made available? Can it be done without offending families? It's an ongoing debate, but one that can best take place on blogs more so than bulletin boards.

OTHER ACCIDENTS

WA: Everett/ 8/21/09 . RV-6 hit a hydrant while taxiing for takeoff. (Anyone want to take a stab at this one?) Registration.

Jousting with JetFlex

Doug Weiler, the lead dog of the Minnesota Wing of Van's Air Force -- aka The Twin Cities Builders Group -- recounts the part of building airplanes he likes least: painting. He's currently working on an RV-7 and he's learned a few things since he built his RV-4. In the current issue of the RVator's Log, the newsletter of the group, Doug looks at JetFlex.

In the same issue, Pete Howell has travelogue on his trip to Steamboat Springs, and the background on an RV altitude record.

Download the issue here.

In flight RV-formation video

See what flying formation over Oshkosh in an RV airplane looks like from the air.

Stranded on a jet

Here's a little transcript/annotation I made of conversations surrounding that Continental ExpressJet that sat in Rochester Minnesota all night a few weeks ago. I made it for this post for the day job.



Interesting to note that Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood called the investigation so far "thorough." But he made his finding without interviewing Mesaba. Figures.

RV Daytripping: DC

It's the darndest thing, really. I've spent the last few weeks really working on the RV-7A project. My wife has been out of town and I've just gotten into that "zone" where all roads lead to the hangar.

Until the last couple of days. I'm sure it's only a momentary thing. Perhaps it's the lousy weather. Or maybe I'd just rather be home with my wife than alone with my aluminum friend. I don't know, but I'm working on trying to get the "zen" back, again.

Fortunately, I have RV daytripping stories and pictures to follow and I'm not sure if all the people who file these on the various Web sites know how motivating they can be.

Ted Chang is posting some now on a trip to DC. DC? Don't small planes vaporize when they get within 30 miles of the place? Apparently not.

If you're similarly motivated by these things, you'll love the selection on his Web site.

Update 8/24 1:48 p.m. - Ted has posted his travelogue here.

RV accident reports

NEW INCIDENTS

SD - Tea. 8/17/09. Two people were killed when N98AW was doing some aerobatics in an RV-8. Witnesses said the engine sputtered. Argus Leader. Judging from this picture, this plane was affiliated with the Vanguard Squadron, which touts the benefits of ethanol.

FINAL REPORTS

CA. Fresno. Probably cause released, 8/13/09, in November 2008 incident in which an RV-6 crashed on landing, seriously injuring the pilot.

The pilot reported that during the initial climb the engine misfired and only produced "marginal power." As he executed a left turn back towards the airport, the engine lost power and he performed a forced landing onto a golf course. During the landing roll, the airplane struck a berm and became airborne again. Subsequently, the airplane landed hard and came to rest upright. Examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that the airplane fuselage was structurally damaged. Examination of the converted Ford engine by the pilot revealed that the fuel system was intact and undamaged. The pilot also reported finding "no obvious" anomalies with the ignition system. The reason for the loss of engine power was not determined.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows: The loss of engine power during initial climb for undetermined reasons.

FL: Titusville. Probable cause released in the 3/1/08 crash that killed three people in a runway collision between a velocity and an RV-8. (More)

The accident, an on-ground collision between two airplanes at a non-towered airport, occurred when the lead airplane in a flight of four RV-8s, which had landed and exited the runway, was struck by a Velocity not associated with the flight. Witnesses stated that the flight of four RV-8s announced their intentions to land in formation on Runway 15 over the radio and on the same frequency that the Velocity announced its intention to conduct a straight in approach to Runway 15. The Velocity arrived on final just behind the fourth RV-8, and touched down on the runway close to the approach end. The Velocity then drifted left off the runway and onto the grass. It passed to the left of the three trailing RV-8s that were still on the runway, and struck the lead RV-8, which had cleared the runway to the left on a taxiway in the vicinity of the departure end of the runway. At some point prior to the collision, engine power on the Velocity increased. Examination of the Velocity did not reveal any evidence of preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions, and the weather in the area was conducive for visual flight rules operations.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows: The pilot of the Velocity’s failure to see and avoid the flight of four RV-8s that had landed and were in the process of clearing the runway.

The ultimate Oshkosh write-up

Over the years, I've seen tons of write-ups about Oshkosh, but none better than this one posted on Van's Air Force by Vlady Spassky. I may skip next year and just read his write-up; it's that good.

Firing up the Vertical Power 50

The more I work with the Vertical Power system, the more I love it. I mean, think about it: There are no circuit breakers to wire, no fuses, no buss to wire, no holes to drill in the panel (except for the control unit).

Basically, you take a wire from whatever device you want to power, stick it into the correct pin on the Vertical Power system, then fire up the system and set the circuit breaker and amp value, and assign it to a switch on your panel. Could it be simpler?

Of course, my newfound perfectionism (which, for the record, rarely yields perfection itself) bit me. I didn't like the original power cable from the master to the Vertical Power unit. The terminal connectors I got from Van's had a hard plastic and I didn't like crimping them with the B&C Connectors' bang-the-crap-out-of_it crimping tool.

So I ordered new terminals and heat shrink and made the cable over. Can you tell the new from the old?



I'll carry the old cable with me as a space in case something happens sometime.

Then I hooked one end to the VP-50...



... and the other end to the ANL on the firewall. Yes, I know this is not wired properly at this point, I just wanted to tap into the power.



The other reason I wanted to make a longer power cable is to run it -- via Adel clamps -- down the engine mount tubing.

Then, I reconnected the ground cable from the battery, climbed into the cabin, flipped the master switch on and...ahhh,.....



How sweet is that? Then I flipped to the setup menu because at this point the VP-50 doesn't recognize anything and isn't passing power.



The VP-50 monitors your electrical system constantly. No need for a bunch of annunciator lights on the panel. In the shot above, it's telling me it's got 12.3 volts form the battery (normally it would be about 13.4 but all I do is drain the battery since it's not connected to a running alternator), and .3 amps and that the system status is OK. If it wasn't OK, the red light would light up and the screen would tell you exactly what's wrong. How can you not love this?



The first device I configured was the flap switch. I set it to always be on (it's not slaved to a switch on the VP-50 unit because the flaps have an up and down switch on the panel. Set the amps to 10 and the circuit breaker to 10 (I have to change this to 6), hit "save" and the flap switch worked!

Then I did the same with the Dynon D-100 electronic flight information system (EFIS). This time I assigned it to switch two. What I can do here is use that as an avionics master switch if I wish. I can also use put all the non-essential avionics on that switch and then, should I have an alternator failure, I can shed load by hitting one switch. In the case of the Dynon, it has an internal battery backup, so I would disconnect it from drawing battery power in the event of an alternator failure.



The goal in this system is to have an electrical system in the plane such that any alternator failure will not be a major issue. People who are using circuit breakers and fuses are creating emergency busses in which a flip of a switch brings the backup system online. I could do something like that, but it would defeat the purpose of the VP-50 system in the first place.

For me, the goal is to have backups (the internal battery on the Dynon, the battery on the Garmin 296, a handheld radio) on the avionics, and I'll also have a switch for the electronic ignition and also the fuel boost pump so -- if something happens to the VP-50 system, I can flip a switch and bring power to those items directly from the battery.

This is a major step for the construction project. I suppose the next big step is the first start of the engine. That's at least a year -- and several thousand dollars -- away.

Get it in writing

Hello, welcome to the Aircraft Mechanic Course for Dummies 101. I'm Bob. Today we're going to talk about a very critical part of being an airplane maintenance dude. Please turn to chapter one in your workbooks. It's the one called, "Make sure you have the owner's permission to fly his plane."

Pick the RVs on the EAA mag cover

The EAA is running a little contest on Oshkosh 365 to select the cover for the next issue. A couple of acrobatic airplanes? Cool. Their fancy sponsors would like the free publicity, I'm sure. Airbus 380? Yeah, fine it hasn't been on enough aviation magazines.

The RV formation folks in taxi? Ding! Ding! Ding!



Why? Because they represent what EAA is supposed to be -- and, for the most part, is -- about. Regular people who fly for fun, not their jobs. And represent all that is good about aviation.

Vote early and often.