Dave’s RV-7A Building Log

Went down to the hangar to pick up something after work. Ceilings were 5500′, wind straight down the runway at 5 knots. Hard to ignore that siren song.

The cylinder temp spread from the front to the back was still a bit high on the last flight, so I put a little more aluminum tape on the front of the front cylinders as a temporary test.

The idle seemed a bit high on the last flight, so I backed out the idle screw 1/4 turn. It seemed like the quadrant lever was hitting the bottom at that point, so I screwed in the clevis end one turn to shorten the cable. Re-secured everything, re-checked everything, cowl back on, pulled her out of the hangar.

I put another 0.9 on the Hobbs. I’m still breaking in the engine, so no serious flight testing yet. I flew at 24″/2400 RPM this time and the cylinder temps are all within 25°F of each other. Actually, they are all within 10°F except #1 which is still 25°F low. Maybe a tiny bit more tape on #1 and that will do it.

The flight went perfectly. Renton to Enumclaw to Monroe. That was half an hour. Back down the Snohomish River Valley, across Lake Sammamish and into the pattern. Slowed down much earlier this time and that was a good thing. Also figured out that last flight I forgot to put in the last 20° of flaps. That’s why it felt like I was going so fast and floating. This time I was just a tiny bit low on final (need to keep more power in–probably because I still don’t have wheel pants), but the landing was great.

The GNS-430 GPS is also working much better now. I figured out after the last flight that the cards weren’t pushed in all the way. It can now figure out when I’m coming in for a landing at an airport and doesn’t complain about terrain and obstructions. I also bumped up the sidetone volume to the top value of 63. It’s better, but still not as loud as the SL-40.

Awesome, awesome flight. I still get a little worried whenever the engine changes tone, but it’s usually just because I’m drifting up or down. The engine is running like a champ and the plane handles incredibly well. It’s so very cool to just go up for a flight on a whim instead of scheduling the rental 4 days in advance just to find out it’s down for maintenance.

When the sun came up this morning, it was obviously going to be a perfect flying day. I decided to fly in the morning rather than risk the weather later on.

I got down to the hangar, put the cowl back on, and got her ready to go. It was a very cold morning. The canopy started to fog up a little when I got inside.

Run-up went great this time. Tower indicated a 737 was going to do first flight in a few minutes, so I lined up for departure and took off. I forgot to turn on the transponder, but luckily I set up the feed from the GPS last night, so it automatically flipped on. Cool!!

I flew Southeast from Renton climbing up to 4500′ once I passed Lake Youngs. I kept the power at 25″/2500 rpm in order to facilitate breaking in the engine. I cruised south a ways to almost Enumclaw. At some point I said to myself, “Relax, everything’s working great.” I took a camera up and snapped a few shots: Mount Rainier, the Olympics with Seattle off to the right, and Tiger Mountain.

I turned north and went between Squawk and Tiger mountains. I tried out the autopilot for a while. Works great, although I don’t think it’s receiving the feed from the GPS yet. I probably have to fix a few settings.

My plan was to go up the Snohomish River valley, but it was completely covered in fog. I started heading toward North Bend, but it got a little bit rough with the turbulent wind off the mountain tops.

I dinked around a bit and then headed in over Lake Sammamish. I definitely like the SE approach to Renton better. Newcastle is fairly high up.

I still had too much energy on final. And it seemed like the idle was set too high. She eventually drifted down and I turned off by mid-field. It’s nice to have 5000′ to work with.

I also started working on graphing some of the output from the AFS engine monitor. Check it out here.

Weather was fairly decent all day. Lots of clouds, but sunbreaks as well. I ran down to the airport after work. Of course down there the weather wasn’t so good. A rainstorm was perched near the airport, but didn’t seem to be moving.

I cowled up the plane and taxied to the runup area. A few drops fell on the plane, but not enough to abort. During the runup, the RPM wasn’t dropping on the right ignition and dropped out completely on left. Not good. Back to the hangar.

I took the top cowl back off and this is what I found.

I’m not a huge fan of these connectors. The screws are so small that you can’t get a real screwdriver on them. I thought I had them torqued down enough, but I really tightened them this time. I also checked the right side. They didn’t seem as loose, but one wire definitely had slipped a little. I’ll check them again after the next flight.

After all of that messing around, the weather really hadn’t improved. Rain was threatening. And the temps were dropping. I figured the last thing I need to deal with is icing. Mission scrubbed for today.

I made a few more short flights over the weekend. I went up Saturday and the engine felt a tiny bit rough and I noticed one of the exhaust gas temperatures (EGT) values getting much higher than the others. I decided to go around the pattern and back in for a landing. A little research showed two possibilities: a clogged fuel injector or fouled plugs. I took out the fuel injector and inspected. I did find a tiny bit of something, but not enough to block all the flow. I also checked the fuel filter just to be safe and found only a few minor flecks of stuff. A run-up afterward confirmed the issue was fixed.

While I was checking stuff out, I removed a few access panels and double checked the wing bellcranks and elevator push tube/horn connection. All looked good.

I wasn’t sure I was going to get a flight in Sunday. The weather was kind of dicey with an overcast layer 4k-5k’ threatening to lower, dark skies up north, and cumulus clouds to the south. I figured it was good enough for a short check-out flight. Wind was straight down the runway, although a little bit gusty. The pattern was empty.

I went up for 1/2 hour circling over the airport. Everything worked great, although the cylinder head temperatures (CHT) are still a bit high on the back 2 cylinders. They’re hovering just above 400°F at 24″ of manifold pressure and 2400 rpm.

After about 3-4 laps overhead at 2000′, I came in for a landing. It was difficult to descend down to pattern altitude and slow down. I never really stabilized until I was on short final and then the gusty winds were blowing me around. Still made a pretty smooth landing, but in the future I need to get speed and altitude stabilized much earlier in the pattern.

Back at the hangar I pulled the top cowl and everything looked good. I still have a few drops of oil coming out of the bottom oil cooler fitting. I think I’m going to have to completely remove it and use some fresh teflon paste on it. I originally used fuel lube for some reason, and it’s just not making a good seal. I suspect it doesn’t hold up well to the hot oil. Oil consumption has been about a quart so far over about 2.0 hours. Since it still has 7 quarts in there, I’m going to let it run down a bit more and then start refilling.

The Advanced Flight Systems AF-3400 EFIS and EMS flat screens are working well. There are a few minor glitches, but Rob at AFS has been very responsive in debugging them and getting out updated firmware. I’ve downloaded all of the flight data and I’m working on a way to easily create a graph from it.

The Garmin GNS-430 is driving me a bit crazy. When I was descending down into the pattern it was flashing up terrain and obstacle warnings. I’m sure there’s a way to turn them off. I just haven’t looked into it yet.

Overall, I’m feeling very confident in the engine and plane. I’m planning on leaving the airport vicinity on the next flight. I think I’ll do some runs up and down the Snohomish River Valley to work on breaking in the engine and maybe try out the autopilot.

I’m not going to be updating this log as often anymore. The building phase of the project is essentially done, except for a few minor details. I’ll post when I’ve got something interesting to report.

(Pictures and flight stats to follow tonight.)

Got up this morning fully intending to go to work. Went for my usual morning work out. When I left the pool it was light enough to tell it was going to be a very clear day. Went back home to check on the weather. Confirmed. Light winds, high ceilings. I changed out of my work clothes and headed for the hangar with a short stop at the hardware store for a Dremel bit.

Down at the hangar I worked on the canopy latches. A word of advice: the latch should not take much force to open and close. I almost got myself stuck inside the plane by forcing it closed. I eventually got it open again and coaxed the latch fingers down a tiny bit more and sanded some powder coat goobers off the latch mechanism ears. It’s working great now.

I cowled up the plane and taxied to the pump for 5 gallons of fuel. I didn’t really need to, but wanted to get comfortable in the plane. When I got back I looked all over through the oil door to confirm no further oil and fuel leaks. Looked good. I checked on the nosewheel. It still seemed very tight. Didn’t roll very easily. I loosened the nut and re-torqued to 7 ft-lbs, which is the low end of the range in the construction manual. Still tight, but better. I guess the seals just have to break in.

Julie wanted to see my first flight, so I had some time to wait for her. I went over the checklists and my mental plan for the flight. My Flight Advisor Tom Staggs recommended keeping it a short flight with a primary purpose of just getting familiar with the plane. Good advice. I didn’t plan to do anything fancy.

I climbed in, buckled up, and started the engine.

After taxiing to 15, I did a run-up. No problems. Everything looked good. Pulled up to the hold-short line and asked the tower for clearance with the intention of circling over the airport at 2000′. “Cleared for takeoff on 15. Make left turns at 1500 or 2000′ at your discretion.”

From that point on, it was largely a blur. I stepped through everything without having to think about it. Add a little power, straight down the runway, advance to full throttle, add a little back pressure to get the nosewheel off the ground, and immediately afterward I was off the ground.

The left wing was a bit heavy. I drifted left a little, but corrected. Normal procedure would be to throttle back to 25″/2500 rpm, but I didn’t want to mess with the power setting until I was comfortably above the airport.

“What’s that loud whistle? Sounds like wind noise, it’s probably fine.” (It was.)

I turned crosswind around 1000′, and then kept a wide pattern as I climbed through 1500′. About the second turn is when a wide grin stretched across my face. She turned so effortlessly. Everything was in the green. “This is a piece of cake.” I powered back to 25″/2500 rpm.

As I approached 2000′, I powered back to 17″/2300 rpm. “Jeez, it’s still climbing.” I remembered Chris Kleen’s advice to keep the nose down in order to fly level. The picture out the window on an RV is just so different than a 172. The cowl is much further down in the sight view.

The tower was incredibly helpful calling out traffic below me a few times. I wanted to stay within glide distance of the airport, so I was turning often. After about 3 laps, I was ready to try the landing.

After calling tower, I descended down into the downwind. I flew the rest of the pattern exactly as Mike Seager taught me. I got a little too low on final, added some power, popped back up, over the threshold, throttle to idle. The light controls felt a little squirrelly. Seemed like I was all over the place, but once within about 20′ she smoothed right out. Slight flare and before I knew it the mains firmly planted on the ground. Kept the nosewheel off and let it settle down as she slowed down. Felt like a great landing.

I’ve always thought the “RV Grin” as kind of cliche, but you really can’t help but grin like a kid on Christmas after a perfect flight.

0.4 hours on the Hobbs. When I got back to the hangar, my Technical Counselor Geoff Sharples was there getting ready for a flight with some friends. I intentionally didn’t invite a big crowd for the first flights to keep the tension level down, but it was a very cool coincidence to have him there to see the finished product after a successful flight. (My goofy expression is from the incredibly bright reflection off the wing. Need to get this thing painted some day.)

I still don’t think it’s sunk into my head yet that the project I’ve been working on for the last 3.5 years can actually fly. The flight was so uneventful and easy, I felt like I got way to worked up for it. Better to over plan.

As for the plane, it flies incredibly well. The light touch on the controls at take off/landing will take some getting used to, but it feels great at altitude, very responsive. The power from the engine is awesome and steady.

I started making a list of people to thank, but it was getting very long and I was worried I’d leave somebody out. I will thank my wonderful wife Julie who not only encouraged me, but drove every rivet on the plane that I couldn’t reach myself. And my daughter Adele for her help along the way and for putting up with my long hours out in the garage.

To everybody else a hearty thanks. I’ve met people in person, and through the VAF forum, and through the Yahoo Group, and via email from all over the U.S. and the world. The RV community is a huge asset in building these planes.

I took the day off today to fix the squawks from yesterday. I could not even attempt to concentrate on work today. All night I had flying dreams and kept waking up going over the squawk list over and over in my head.

I already fixed the small fuel link yesterday. I guess I never tightened the nut on the fuel inlet fitting. I’m using an angle fitting. It threads in loosely and then a nut is reversed down on the threads to tighten the connection. It must have been leaking during my ground runs, but I didn’t notice it. The blue dye from the fuel was obvious on the nose gear leg after the first flight.

The other thing I fixed yesterday was the idle mixture. Terry indicated it was a bit rich. I backed off the adjustment 3 clicks.

Next fix was the oil leak. There was a bunch of oil droplets on the inside of the bottom cowl, back left corner. Traced it down to the oil cooler. I didn’t have the inlet/outlet fittings quite tight enough. Easiest way to fix it was to remove the cooler from the baffles, put another rotation on the fittings, and put it back together. Very messy job now that oil is in there. Hopefully that will stop the leaks.

I messed around with the cover panels a bit. We had trouble getting a couple of the screws in yesterday. I elongated a couple holes in some non-essential areas to make it all fit.

Last task was the canopy latch. Terry pointed out that I have everything so tight that the latches aren’t going completely over the rollers. I tried elongated the holes in the latches (per Vans instructions), but need to get a new Dremel bit. Mine is shot.

I checked out everything firewall forward very carefully. Touched every fuel, oil, electrical, and control cable connection to make sure nothing was loose. All looked good. The bottom cowl is back on now. All I have to do is fix the latch issue, put on the top cowl, and she’s ready to go again!!

Weather finally cleared up. Terry Burch came by about 2:30pm and checked over the plane before flying it. Being a fairly low-time pilot, I thought it was a good idea to have a more experienced pilot handle it.

Terry didn’t think securing the fuel flow sensor to the engine mount was necessary or a good idea. It didn’t give the fuel line enough slack for engine movement. I took care of that. He had a few other suggestions on minor stuff, but everything else looked good. We started putting panels and fairings on like crazy. Man there are an unbelievable number of screws to put in.

After two hours of that it was time to fire her up and taxi to 15 at Renton.

Terry called up tower and asked to circle above the airport. Lining up on the runway in front of the blast fence.

Take off.

He circled overhead for about half an hour doing all sorts of stuff, including stalls. SeaTac’s class B airspace is right overhead, so he was at 2000′ most of the time.

Then it was time to come in for a landing.

Lots of nosewheel shimmy forward and aft on roll out, but the bearing seals haven’t broken in yet.

Job well done Terry. Thanks!

The proud parents.

Squawks included securing the stick grips (oops), slight rudder trim needed, slightly heavy left wing, small oil leak at the cooler fittings, and a fuel leak at the pump (surprisingly forgot to tighten the inlet fitting–already fixed). Terry said it’s got a lot of power. It pushed him right back in the seat on take off. CHTs got a bit hot on climb out, up to 440°F on one, but cooled off as soon as he leveled off. He thought it might be a probe problem. Fuel pressure was reading way high as I expected, again probably a sensor calibration problem. All other numbers looked good. He said stick forces were light, but not too light. She stalls right at the bottom of the green. Stall with flaps was a knot or two away from the bottom of the white. He said the AF-3400 worked great and that he really liked it. He even checked out the Trutrak Digitrak II autopilot and said it was working fine, but the setup parameters needed a little tweaking.

Terry did a great job as test pilot. Even if you’re planning on doing the first flight yourself, he’s a great resource for checking out everything on the plane.

When I got down to the hangar this afternoon, a cherry RV was rolling down the runway. It turned toward my hangar and I saw it was Chris stopping by to inspire me with his beautiful RV-6. Like I need more inspiration. I’m dying to get flying. When he took off, his wheels left the ground well within 1000′ feet. He cruised about 6′ off the runway for a few thousand feet, started a gentle climb with wing rock right in front of me, and then shot right up to 1000′ AGL. Very cool.

Back to messing around the plane, I cut the rubber strips for the wing root fairings, and also cut the rubber strips for the strips under the horizontal stabilizer. I also remembered that I had some rubber trim for the forehead-cutter edge of the glare shield.

I then checked all the settings on the EFIS and EMS and decided to turn off the AOA display since it isn’t calibrated yet.

Looks like the weather might cooperate tomorrow. Fingers are crossed.

Still waiting on the weather. I cut down the wing root fairings a little bit so there is now a 1/4″ gap to the fuselage. After deburring and dimpling they are ready to go.

The weather is not cooperating very well for a first flight. Yesterday morning was nice and clear, but the person I have doing the test flight, Terry Burch, was stuck in California. We’ll hopefully get another window of good weather soon.

Adele and I went down to the hangar this evening and re-installed the wing tips. I’m leaving most of the access panels and covers off so Terry can take a look at everything before flying. I also updated the software on the AF-3400 screens.

I read over my operating limitations for the first 40 hours again. My test area is indeed a 50nm radius around Renton airport. It also specifies a flight test corridor “in order to safely conduct the type of anticipated maneuvers and tests, as appropriate.” Here’s the test area and corridor displayed on Google Maps. I take that to mean I should do my initial test flights and any of the testing that is potentially dangerous within the corridor. For the rest of the time, I can use the 50nm radius. That’s great–much better than I thought from my first skimming of the limitations.