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The RV News Roundup
A site catering to the lifestyle of building, flying and socializing
about RV kitplanes. Pushed out M-F 1300Z(ish).
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Random photo taken
by |
Fri May 16, 2008
1147z
Thursday
was pretty weird. No flying, but we did have a runway incident
at 52F which resulted in no physical injuries, but some pretty shaken
folks and two damaged airplanes. The NTSB will have the final
word, of course, but let me remind folks again how important it is to
get a mental picture in your head of what's in the pattern before you
pull on the runway. The two folks here were apparently in radio
contact, but there was confusion obviously. Runway 35 at 52F has
trees at the south end, so I prefer to fly a steeper than usual,
slipping 180* turn to final when the wind is out of the north. The
runway dips down a little there at the south end and if a plane at the
run up area pulls way up against the very end they don't get a wide, unobstructed view of what's on final. When I'm about to
takeoff on 35, I do my run up on the TAXIWAY a hundred or so feet north
of where most folks do. Call me chicken, but I like to be able to
look down a long final for the occasional Baron or light twin draggin'
it in low.
Hope you can make it to
TEX on Saturday -
gonna be RV rich (I hope). I'll charge the camera and take lots of
pics in case you can't come.
Have a happy and RV-filled weekend! See you Monday and fly safe.

Runway Incursion at 52F Thursday (this part posted
yesterday afternoon - moved up top for today)
There was
a runway incursion at my home airport (52F) a few hours ago. A
Cherokee landed on top of a Stinson. Everyone involved walked away
without injuries. When landing runway 35 here, a pilot should be
aware there is a row of trees that can conceal an aircraft at the run up
area. It's very important when flying into 52F to be vigilant of
possible aircraft there, especially high wing aircraft, and to use
proper traffic pattern radio calls. Thank God nobody was injured.
I took several images (below) and will present more tomorrow.

(media outlets are more than welcome to
use these images free of charge IF VansAirForce.net is
credited)
(16) pictures online at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/VansAirForce/52FRunwayIncursion_051508
...a pretty good argument for doing a complete visual scan of the entire
airport taxiway system while you're on downwind.
After clicking on the
image below, maximize your screen and click 'Slideshow'.

(media outlets are more than welcome to
use these images
free of charge IF VansAirForce.net is
credited)
Aviation WX Guide for Pilots Available Free on New Site:
www.aviationweather.ws/
...brought to my attention by Don Hull.

New Van's Item: RV-12 Pocket T-shirt
Click here for more information

TEX '08 This
Saturday

SoCal Gathering This
Weekend
VAF Family
Welcome To
The VAF Forums: Shaun
Frendo (Melbourne, Victoria), Mark Turner (UK), Scott Powers (PA)
RV-7 Builder Brad Oliver Is Documenting
His IFR Lessons In A Blog That You Should Visit ...Good
Stuff. Be sure to watch the May 8th video of a cat III ILS.
Motivation
RV-10 Out of the Paint Shop: Mark Steffensen of Milton, GA
"N888FF has 65 hours and first flight was June of 2007. Paint
was applied by Advance Aircraft Refinishers (Griffin GA) by Tony Diaz.
You may remember Advanced Aircraft Refinishers as they painted the 2007
AOPA "Catch a Cardinal" as described in 2007 AOPA Magazine. The
RV1O is a great aircraft and performs as per Van's performance numbers."
related:
The
RV-10 Forum

|
RV Classifieds Spotlighted |
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New listings in the forums classified section:
F.S.:
RV-10 COMPLETED EMP. and TAIL CONE
RV-7
For Sale
FS:
Fuel Selector, Fuel Gauges (2)
FS:
RV-10 IO-540 Dual Cheltons, Electronics Internation
RV-8
Pe-punched tail kit 85%
O
360 A1A for sale
RV-8
Wing and Empenage kits for sale
FREE
to post and view. (posting
tips) |
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VAF Calendar 60 Days Out
(go to
Main VAF calendar) |
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|
ADD and
EDIT your own area's RV events.
05-17-2008: EAA Chapter 302 Fly-in, TEX '08 (KJWY), IAC Ch.25
"Two Design Aerobatic Contest" for Rv's, EAA Chapter 91
Breakfast (KLXT), KPSO Fly-In Breakfast, RV fly-in at Chino (CNO),
CA, EAA 445 AirFest 2008 & RV Fly-in (KTLH)
05-18-2008: EAA 445 AirFest 2008 & RV Fly-in (KTLH)
05-23-2008: Damme (EDWC) Van's Aircraft Fly In
05-24-2008: Damme (EDWC) Van's Aircraft Fly In, AGUA DULCE
AIRPORT (L70) FIRST ANNUAL FLY-IN AND BBQ, 5th Annual Center
Fly-In (F17), EAA Chapter 95 Open House at KC09
05-25-2008: Damme (EDWC) Van's Aircraft Fly In
05-26-2008: EAA Chapter 1115 Fly-In, Mooreland, Ok (KMDF)
05-31-2008: RV Fly-In - Bloomsburg, PA (N13)
06-01-2008: RV Fly-In - Bloomsburg, PA (N13)
06-06-2008: Golden West
06-07-2008: Golden West, RV Picnic, 9G3, Akron, NY, Fly-in
Breakfast KSJN, AZ
06-08-2008: Golden West
06-14-2008: 17th Annual NW RV Fly In - Scappoose, OR KSPB, EAA
146 Spring Breakfast Fly-In, EAA 1209 Fly-in
06-21-2008: Blake's 50th Birthday Party - KDVT, Cuyler Airpark
Ice Cream Social, Eagle Mountain Airshow (KPTV)
06-28-2008: EAA Chapter 91 Fly-in/Drive-in and Great American
Barnstormers (KLXT), Colorado 150 Air Race
07-04-2008: EAA Chapter 91 Fly-in/Drive-in (KLXT) with "Aluminum
Overcast"
07-05-2008: EAA Chapter 91 Fly-in/Drive-in (KLXT) with "Aluminum
Overcast"
07-06-2008: EAA Chapter 91 Fly-in/Drive-in (KLXT) with "Aluminum
Overcast"
07-09-2008: Artlington
07-10-2008: Artlington
07-11-2008: Artlington
07-12-2008: Artlington
07-13-2008: Artlington
- sub calendars:
Oregon /
California /
N. Texas /
S. Texas /
Florida |
Advertiser's Corner
...sent in by the advertisers of this
site.
New RV-12 Tool
Kit Being Offered By Avery Tools
...from the Averys, "We have a new tool
kit for the RV-12 builders, based on the recommended tool list from the
Van’s RV-12 builders manual. For the first 25 RV-12 Tool Kits we
sell you get a free VAF Hat & T-shirt
(need to know size of the shirt you want). There will be a donation
going to Make-A-Wish for each hat / shirt given away in this promotion,
courtesy of Avery Tools.
Bob & Judy, Ken & Mimi Avery"
1.800.OK.AVERY to order.

Order your VansAirForce.net Shirt
Today!
Thu May 15, 2008
1300z
Wednesday
I finally took Flash up for a .9hr flight - first time to fly the
RV in nearly two weeks. Man, it felt good to get some space
between me and the ground! Went over to Bridgeport for (cheaper) fuel,
played with the newly installed ASA flight timer, remote compass and
listened to some tunes while puttering around at 17 inches. This
round in the air was soundtracked with Common Disaster by the
Cowboy Junkies, Tears of Rage by The Band and Where
the Devil Don't Stay by The Drive By Truckers. Weird set and odd taste,
I know, but it works for me <g>. I like bands that play real
instruments. Call me a purest...
Updated picture of the cockpit (3,000 pixels wide) posted on Flash's
page at www.N617AR.com.
If you can come to
TEX this weekend,
please do. The WX is looking good. Hope you have a swell
Thursday!

New Article: How Long Have You Been Building...by RV-8
builder Chris Mallory (currently stationed in Baghdad)
...from Chris, "I've been in the military since 1987, flying
jets and having a great time. In fact, I couldn't get enough, and so
I've been building an RV-8 for the past 6 years. Since then the military
has moved me twice, four hurricanes have threatened, and I've deployed
twice. In fact, I'm writing this note to you from Baghdad. Through it
all I've continued to make progress on my RV-8, and the next time I
move, I'll be flying it out!
I wrote a little article about my adventures that I think your readers
might enjoy (attached). I've
been a regular visitor to your site since I began my RV-8 project, and
I've seen a few projects mentioned that took longer to build, but I
don't think anyone has had to pack the whole project up so many times. I
would be very happy and honored if you would post this story on your
site.
One way I've been keeping my RV-8 project on my mind during the
"groundhog days" of my current deployment is by building a web site
about my build. This site discusses the particular problems I faced and
ways I overcame them, and offers tips and advice for other builders. I'm
looking forward to returning the States, and adding many more pictures.
Please have a look, at
kit-plane-advice.com.
Sincerely,
Chris Mallory"
[ed. Chris' article has been added to the 'Articles'
section (look for the
icon). You can jump straight to it
HERE. dr]
My RV-8 is like the Concorde and SR-71!
...pretty fun read and a nice math
exercise.
"OK, before you come to the conclusion that I've fallen off my rocker or
been taking a bit much from the bottle, hear this...
While my airspeeds will never match, come close, or even remotely be in
the same league as the aformentioned aircraft, my 200 hp, constant speed
prop bird does exhibit a similar characteristic. That characteristic my
RV-8 and all RVs have in common with the Concorde and SR-71 is...
aerodynamic heating! Due to high airspeed, the friction of the air on
the aircraft skin will cause a temperature rise. I know what your
thinking... "that Jerry must be delusional."
So
how did I come to this silly conclusion? Well I noticed my OAT never
seemed accurate. I know folks have reported higher temps than actual and
I know in some cases it was caused due to poor placement of the probe.
However my probe is on the underside of my right wing in the NACA scoop
for the copilot vent. It is well away from any potential exhaust. So why
did my OAT consistently read about 4 deg C higher than what I though it
should read even though I had calibrated it?
On one of those nice flying days (really, aren't they all nice), I
noticed my OAT rose about 3 deg C while accelerating from 70 KIAS to
about 170 KIAS despite maintaining level flight. Hmmm. I slowed down,
the temp went down. Naahh, that couldn't be. It must be some weird air
mass thing. Everytime I changed airspeed regardless of altitude, the
temp followed. Now, that got my attention and got the electrons in my
brain stirring.
So I turned to my favorite information resource... the internet! There I
found calculators and formulas that reinforced what I was seeing. I
figured I should have been seeing a 4-5 deg C rise? Why the difference?
4-5 deg C rise is from 0 to 170 KIAS, I was going from 70 to 170 KIAS.
Thus at 70 KIAS I was already seeing a 1 deg C temp rise due to
aerodynamic heating!
OK, sounds great. Can this really be true? Well today I was on final
approach into ATL in one of my company's Boeing 757s. Our aircraft and
most high performance aircraft have a SAT (static air temp) gage and a
TAT (total air temp) gage. The TAT is the sum of the SAT (the true OAT)
and the temp rise due to aerodynamic heating. As we approached the final
approach fix, we maintained 170 KIAS and 3500' MSL and guess what... The
TAT read 4 deg C higher than the SAT!
I can now consider my hypothesis to be correct... At our typical RV
cruise speeds, our OAT gages will read about 4 deg C higher than the
actual OAT and thus I'm sure my fuselage will stretch a few millimeters
as I accelerate to 170 kts! I don't think I 'll be needing any of the
space shuttle's thermal tiles or exotic metals, but I do find 4 deg C to
be significant if not interesting. The 4 deg C difference will have a
minor effect on true airspeed calculations and anything else where
temperature is a factor. While saying my RV-8 is like the Concorde and
SR-71 is a "strectch" (pun defintely intended), I am astonished that our
little airplanes can go fast enough to cause a temp rise! I hope the
next time you observe your OAT rise due to increasing airspeed it puts a
smile on your face like it does me."
Jerry
N84JE
(discuss)
VAF Family
Welcome To
The VAF Forums: Ron
LeDuc (FL), Dean Billing (OR)
Motivation
-8 In Flight:...courtesy JR Davis. Link to more pics.

Construction
Ribs Riveted to Spars:...courtesy Mike. "Last night, I
riveted the main ribs to the front and rear spars. I am now working on
my wing jig."

Two Weeks To Go (I Hope)....Maciek in Poland. Posted in
the
The RV-10 Forum.

Event News
Rocky Mountain Regional Fly-In Date Changed To September
Miscellaneous
Shirt
Sighting: Somewhere over Marble, CO...sent in by Jay Pratt and
Carol.

Top 3
fuel-saving techniques for pilots By AOPA Pilot
Information Center staff
A top concern among AOPA members is the rising cost of avgas.
Although alternate fuel sources are being explored all over the
world, it will be some time before any of them have a direct impact
on general aviation.
continue
Wed May 14, 2008
1115z
Spent the
lion's share of Tuesday at Monk's working on the RV-6. Monk
has the static lines the way he wants them, updated the software on
the Dynon to see the new remote compass and OAT probe and has done a million
other things. It's really coming together. I have two
antennae cable extensions in the mail that should be one of the last
things to do before continuing the 'ol IFR lessons. Updated both
Flash's page and
the IFR rating page with the new info and
latest pics.
This'll equipment will be more than adequate to get
an IFR rating - some of the YouTube videos I've been watching of WAAS-autopilot
coupled approaches have me stoked for the new panel down the road (one
example video). That'll be a hoot!
The Reeves women commandeered the TV to watch Steel Magnolias
Tuesday night, so I made myself a White Russianw
and spent some quality time with John and Martha King. The Dude
abides...
Have a swell Wednesday -
doesn't look like they'll be any VFR flights
from Dallas to Austin this morning.

RV White Pages Current...courtesy
the lovely
Susie.
Currently listing (2,464) RV
projects and planes in (26)
countries.
Stein of SteinAir Is Selling his RV-6...pics
and complete description. Nobody is taking bets that the panel
doesn't work <g>.
Some New
First Flights Being Reported On The Mother Ship
A
Tour of Mario's RV-3 Build...fuse on the gear. Mario
lives in the Balearic islands of Spain.

Grady Update. I stopped in Grady's to see if there was
any paint activity going on. Here's what I got...

Checkers anyone? |
Grady's version on Stonehinge. |

In the booth.
|
Next in line... |
| related:
www.GLOcustom.com |
Monkey's New Nose Art. Goes with the yellow plane
nicely.

Medical
Bifocal
Contacts: Next Chapter...an
update from Dean Pichon from
this thread
"After reviewing all the options offered on this topic, I
elected to try the bifocal contact thing. The idea of completely giving
up glasses is just too enticing. This evening, I went to the eye doctor
to be fit for contacts. He immediately suggested lens replacement
surgery, then progressive lens glasses, then contacts for distance with
glasses for reading. I held my ground and said "bifocal contacts". He
said most people don't like them - less than a 50% success rate. I said,
"I'll try them." He relented, I tried them and I love them. The sample
pair he fit me with allowed me to have better than 20/20 near and far. I
would never have believed the concept of a bifocal contact could be so
successful. I can't wait to fly with them.
As soon as I am a little braver and a little richer, I will try
lens replacement surgery, but in the meantime, I am thrilled (so far)
with these contacts.
Thanks to all for the input. I am continuously amazed at the
breadth and depth of experience of this group.
Dean Pichon"
VAF Family
Welcome To
The VAF Forums: Roger
Burdorf (OH), Eric Silvers (TX),
Steve Jasmer (WA)
Advertiser's Corner
...sent in by the advertisers of this
site.
www.RVengraving.com Back Up...the
site was down for a few days but they got it squared away.
Miscellaneous
FAA ISSUES NPRM ON SPORT PILOT RULE
NTSB RELEASES 2007 AVIATION ACCIDENT STATISTICS FAA RELEASES FACT SHEET
ON ASDE-X FAA TO INSTALL RUNWAY SAFETY WARNING SYSTEM AT BOSTON LOGAN
www.faasafety.gov/files/notices/2008/May/AVNewsUpdateMay2008.pdf
Tue May 13, 2008
1254z
There are
few things funnier than seeing the automatic sprinkler pop up and start
spraying water a foot away from your dog while he's, you know...
It happened a few minutes ago with our Chihuahua. I think the day
might be downhill from here. Might have peaked early ;^).
Have a swell Tuesday.

Black Magic Trip Narrative (Motivational?)...by Dana
Overall
"Black Magic officially became a passenger carrying time machine
this past weekend. It's not a Bahama trip summary, a Monument Valley
picture album, but ya gotta start somewhere.
Elaine and I loaded up luggage for us, along with a pillow and book
for her, and launched out of i39 for the Cincy River Rats formation
clinic at MWO Friday afternoon around 1430. I will have to say it was
"way cool" actually putting baggage in the airplane for the first time.
Anyway, with a borrowed 496 with XM weather, off we went northbound and
out of the ol test area. Not being fully comfortable IFR with the
airplane yet, we knew we may have to put down short of MWO and either
rent a car, hang out and assess the weather ahead or spend the night. We
made it about 2 miles south of Cincy's mode C vail when the ceiling had
lowered to my pre determined no go levels. We turned around and flew
about 10 miles to the south, in a nice clear rain corridor shown on the
496, and landed at an airport we had previously flown over. Don't you
just love weather on board and the nearest function. I have the 430 in
the panel but the 496 is one fine piece of equipment. We still got a
little wet in the pattern but Black Magic needed a power wash anyway.
Nice airplane outline on the ramp. I know, I know...I'm working on the
wheel pants and gear leg fairings this week."
continue

Rocket Man (panel) ...nice pic brought to our attention by
Doug Rozendaal.

Another way to cut your canopy (use a cast cutter) ...idea by
Joe Salomone
"Yesterday I was preparing to cut the canopy on a 9A when an old
friend "IA" stopped by to visit and asked what I was going to cut the
canopy with. Like everyone else, the die grinder and a cutoff disc. He
said he had something better and returned in the morning with an
orthopedic "CAST CUTTER". That is correct, doctors cut the cast off a
broken bone etc.
The old "IA" has been cutting plexi/Lexan for 40 years with it with no
problem.
I tried it and was amazed......no dust at all....no need for a
mask.....no hot chips....no melting plastic......thin circular blade
appears to be rotating but it's not, it's oscillating.....very fine
control....does not want to climb if going in the wrong
direction........ you can put it on your hand and it will not cut
you.....and it's quiet, no compressor or high speed angle grinder noise.
First cut was to "score" a groove as a guide, second pass was right
through like butter. Find your doctor friend and see if he will
let go of one. You'll never give it up.
Works good and lasts a long time...."
more info

You CAN Paint Your Plane ...Ken Morris is doing it.
"After 300 hours, it is time. I am in the middle of painting my
RV7A. I built a paint booth in my hangar and I am using DuPont AF700
series basecoat/clearcoat aviation paint. One nice thing about using
this product, if you make a mistake, you can wait 6/9 hours and sand
repaint. I used some metallic colors and these must be re-coated if
sanded."
more info

Aint Life Great Part IV (Fiberglass) ...Frank Stringham
"During the past few weeks...or is it months....when you are
enjoying yourself who counts..... I have been knee deep in the infamous
FG process. I have custom made with FG the ram air induction
inlet/throttle body air filter enclosure/main gear lower intersection
fairings/upper nose roller intersection fairing/HS-VS fairing cosmetic
surgery...............what fun.!!!!!!! Here are a few pix of the
custom made nose roller fairing/HS-VS. I use Aereoepoxy resin/hardner,
bi and uni cloth and molding clay...."

VAF Family
Welcome To
The VAF Forums: Mike
Robertson (WA), Steve Wyman (CO)
Milestones
200,000 Posts To Search Through
Reached in the
forums
yesterday. Thanks again for goofing off at work and making this
knowledge base possible.

1,000
(Paris, France)...Pascal
"Today, our project got over the 1000 hours mark. To make it
a special day we took the canopy out of storage and put it on the
fuselage. You can guess what the next task will be."

Miscellaneous
A Little
Nod
A few months back I was
contacted about using a picture in a magazine. "Happy to help, of
course. Take any picture you want and let me know if you need
more." I few days back I got the magazine in the mail (a nice
gesture) and was pleased to see Paul Schattauer's RV-8 off the Oregon
coast on page 28 of the Spring Issue of the University of Portland's
magazine. I took that picture from the back seat of Danny King's
'Beautiful Doll' on an afternoon flight down the Oregon coast during
Homecoming '04. They actually reversed it in the mag (the
original /
another from the same flight). You should be able to read the
article about Van
when they get the current issue on their web site. It's a nice
read.
I think they picked a good picture and subject matter for their
magazine!


a couple of pics
of the magazine on my sidewalk
Mon May 12, 2008
1144z
Didn't
RVate any this past Friday, but I did get to play a little golf...and by
little I mean bad. I'm not what you'd call an 'accomplished'
player by any stretch of the word. Susie attended and offered
support when needed (most holes). Pity aside, we did get to hang
for a few hours with two RV fellows and a Globe Swift guy out at Willow
Springs west of Alliance airport, got to enjoy the lack of clouds, low
humidity and moderate temps. Shot par on two holes and almost did
it a third time, but choked on a five footer. Great fun, lots of
airplane talk, and plenty of opportunity to see where my game is
lacking. Fun in the Texas Sun. I did come up with a name for
RV-8 builder and attendee Rob Reece, who knows his way around a golf
course: Michelangelo from San Angelo.
Saturday I went down to
Granbury, TX to attend the Pecan Plantation Spring Fly-In - an awesome
gathering of planes, people and pecans. The actor who played
Chewbacca lives nearby, so who wouldn't feel safe? Chewy's got your back! More on the fly-in below...
Sunday was doing whatever Susie told us to do, you understand that.
Watched the final round of The Players...all 5.5 hours of it...while trying to string together a
RV-related sentence or three on the laptop. Paul Goydos
ALMOST pulled
off a Cinderella win - no sponsor and wearing a college baseball cap.
Man, we were all screamin' for him. Bet he has a sponsor next week
<g>.
Hope to get out to 52F
Monday to see how the old girl is doing. IFR test studying this
weekend: zero hours. Hope you had a happy and safe RV-filled weekend and your Monday goes
swell.

not related at all:
pics from Friday's golf game |
map
of course
SPOT track of round <g>
First Flight: Steve RV-9A (Roy, Utah)
[last name not given]
"After 3 years 10 months with
2150-ish hours, s/n 90979 took wing today. It weighed in at 1045 lbs
without outside paint but primed and painted inside. Day VFR with an ECI
o320 and Sensenich prop. Interior by Classic Aero. Garmin SL40 and
GTX327 with a PS1000II intercom. Vans gages."

Pecan Plantation Spring Fly-In Pictures
Great fun. Flash is getting some plastic surgery done
(below), so I flew the Miata down to Granbury for the '08 Pecan
Plantation Spring Fly-In. 1.2 hrs...only about twenty minutes more
all told than if I'd taken the plane (it's really not that far). Some
of those curvy roads
around here were very entertaining, and I really should have had the
top down for it, but I was trying to negotiate my way around a
Whataburger taquito with sausage and didn't want to make it any more
work.
When I arrived I popped the trunk to get out the camera gear that
I'd brought - four lenses and enough memory to do it right.
Unfortunately, I left the camera ON the entire drive down and the
battery was now kinda low. Plan B was the pocket digital spare.
Good O' spare.
Don Christiansen gave several of us a tour of his and Linda's
about-to-be-finished house (beautiful). Saw a lot of the usual
suspects (Jay, Carol, Rich, Pat, Don, Danny, MJ, Mike) and a few folks I
don't see very often (Bill/Debbie and John Parks).
There were formation
passes, plenty of food, helicopters, a jet, ultralights, thousands of
pecan trees and lots of laughs. It's one of the great gatherings
and I'm lucky to live semi-close to it.
The (39) pictures I took can be found at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/VansAirForce/Pecan08. Hope you
enjoy!


Flash Update
The ADI is back in on the right side, the Dynon remote
compass and OAT probe are hooked up, the MX20 has been removed and a
nice open-faced glove box is in its place (lined with scrap leather and
with a lip modeled after the headstock of a Gibson ES-335). Stuff
going there are things like AF/D, plates, candy bars, spare camera, batteries,
sunscreen, etc. The antennae farm I had on the dash has been
relocated to a new tray running parallel to the roll bar support
bracket per Tony's idear. Of special note is the alum tube curving around the roll
bar on the right side housing the antennae cables. Room for one
more antennae. Tony is a metal artist! All this is a temporary
state until I get the new panel installed in a few months, but it's nice
to get it squared away solid.
Pics upper right on Flash's page...
N617AR.com

A Virtual Tour of Ray Roerr's Flying RV-10 ...posted by Ray.
"After two years of flying, I finally painted my RV-10. Now when I
fly to Oshkosh, instead pf identifying my plane as a Cherokee, they are
likely to call me a Columbia 400 or Cessna 400. Here is a link to a
bunch of pictures of the painting process for N519RV (40250)"

New RVator Is Online...from
the factory site.

Jim Cone RV-12 Flaperons Done. Final Wing Pics.

New Tail Art Pic
Pics: Timing is Everything ...trust me....it's funny.
Are Needle and Ball Obsolete? ...by Iron
"OK, here is a question that my raise the ire of the
more experienced pilots in the room - is flying by needle, ball, and
airspeed obsolete? Now before you get out the pitchforks, torches, and
AN Low Frequency Range receivers, let me elaborate…..
There is no doubt whatsoever that no matter what airplane you are
flying under IFR, you need to have backups in case of failures. In the
old days, we all learned that if you lost your vacuum pump, you were
going to lose the Attitude Indicator and DG, so you were left with the
Turn and Bank, Airspeed, and Altimeter - a daunting and difficult
prospect under the best conditions and level proficiency, and seat-clenchingingly
difficult in the bumps. We’ve all been there….but will current and
future students of instrument flying need to be?"
continue
Lucky's RV-8...a
virtual tour.

VAF Family
Welcome To
The VAF Forums: Tom
Rogers (IL), John Hill (WA), Gary Henn (UK), Danny Sheridan (OR), Dave
Cole (Ohio), Scott Lane (OR)
Milestones
Left Wing Complete: Steve from Santa Clarita, CA
"Left wing is complete, including aileron and flap (not shown
here)...Many thanks to Jim Deas for helping me get this task completed
finally, so I can move on to the other wing. Also, many thanks to my
neighbor Alex for his help getting me to this point. Building
on...
Steve

1000
And Counting
Seats Done (Rv-10): Michael Wellenzohn of Switzerland
"Since I don't have any experience in upholstery work I decided to
get some professional help. Mr. Kress helped me with the design and did
the entire work in his company. You can tell if someone is
passionate about his job. It's the first time he did aircraft seats
seems like a good challenge compared to the regular Bentley, Rolls Royce
and Aston Martins he is usually working on ;-)"
 
related:
The
RV-10 Forum
Safety
New APRS
User: Scott Card
Fri May 9, 2008
1247z
Have a happy, safe and
RV-filled weekend!

Any Weekend RV Plans? ...have an event you want to
promote? Put it in the
Main VAF Calendar,
or in one of the area-specific sub calendars:
Oregon
/
Texas(N/S)
/
Florida
/
California
.
You can also view
area activity in the
Regional Section.
Do You Remove Your Oil Pickup Screen At Every Oil Change?
What Wax Do You Use...an interesting discussion on products folks use
to fly faster? (Rosie is a NU Finish man. Chris Pratt
doesn't wax).
Gary Sobek Has 1,100 hours On His Champion Spark Plugs...see
how he does it.
Kahuna's Oxygen Refill Station (pics)....start
here and read down the next three/four replies.

A Virtual Tour of Ed Coudon's RV-4

Reid-Hillview
Users, please read (California)
...posted by Michael Coyle in the 'California' section
I'm sure more than one person on this forum is based at or has used
Reid-Hillview Airport in San Jose (RHV). In case you aren't aware, RHV
is once again threatened with closure by the Santa Clara County Board of
Supervisors. An RV-6 owner friend of mine mentioned that the VAF forum
members might want to know what the story is. The executive summary is
that the county is facing a massive budget shortfall, and some local
officials believe that the answer is to sell off county assets,
including RHV.
Even if you aren't based at RHV, consider the impact this closure would
have. If the county manages to void its agreements with the FAA that
require it to keep the airport open in exchange for federal grants, it
would set a terrible precedent that would make it easier to close other
airports around the country. (The county counsel has stated in the past
that she believes this can be done.)
My reason for posting about this now is that we need your help. Local
organizations like CRAMP (www.cramp.org) and RHVAA are joining the fight
(with help from AOPA and others). Specifically, we need to support
candidates for Supervisor who believe that the airport is an
irreplaceable asset.
We're supporting Dave Cortese (www.cortese4supervisor.com) by hosting a
BBQ fundraiser for Dave Cortese on May 17th, starting at 5pm, at the
Amelia Reid Aviation Hangar at RHV. We are suggesting a minimum
contribution of $100, which when you think about it buys only 20 gallons
of 100LL for your airplane in most of CA.
If you can't make it to the BBQ but donate to the candidate anyway,
please mention that you are a pilot and that you support the candidate's
efforts to sustain Reid-Hillview. Alternately, we welcome donations to
the CRAMP-PAC (see http://cramp.org/cramp-pac/).
Please feel free to PM me if you want additional information. Or if you
feel this sort of post is objectionable. Thank you.
Michael Coyle
pilot, Mooney M20C
Donations Section
Updated By
Susie
VAF Family
Welcome To
The VAF Forums: Milt
Sadoway (Vancouver), Jim Polk (CA), Michael Coco (TX)
Spotlighted Thread
Sticker Spotted...there I was...driving down the road minding
my own business...
related:
Wanna free sticker?
Event News
TEX '08 is on the
17th
Thu May 8, 2008
1253z
Wednesday
evening I finished the FARs section of the King IFR DVDs and
added a little table at the top of that section
showing how the IFR rating progress is....well....progressing.
AIMs next... There's hope for me yet <g>.
Updated the 'Travels to Date' map on Flash's page (www.N617AR.com).
I needed to add a trip line for a flight last year up to Petit Jean, AR.
I should have added a line down to Houston, because it
flew down down there once with Ironflight as PIC, but since I
wasn't in the plane I didn't count it. Paul can start his own map
of trips he's taken in my plane
.
Hope you have a great Thursday!!!

Update on Flash's Facelift
The OAT probe and remote compass are installed. Monk took
these pictures of the O2 doubler plate Tony made up to mount my bottle
where I can reach it. The bottle is now mounted (sorry for the
blurry pic). Work continues...
Newly installed O2 bottle mount...


Some more pics of the remote
compass install
(opens new window)
POTUS over Waco Thu-Sun (daughter getting married)...fair
warning.
Aircraft Spruce Sale (Georgia Location May 17th)...sent in by
Desiree in their Marketing Dept.
"We have an event coming up in our Georgia location which is our Aircraft
Spruce East Super Sale & Fly-In. The link on our website with the
information is:
www.aircraftspruce.com/eastcoastSupersale.php
Thank you,
Desiree"
[ed. ...from their site: "There will be many vendors in attendance as
well as prize giveaways, discounted products and free
hotdogs and sodas!"]
Rene Felker's RV-10 POH ...Rene
sent this in and I put it in the POH section. You can use it as a
starting point for compiling your RV-10 POH.

related:
The
RV-10 Forum | The
RV-10 Registry (finished) |
The RV-10
section of the RV White Pages
Jim Cone RV-12 Flaperon Construction Pics

May Issue of the ch377 'Fly Paper' Is Online...and there are
some RV photos in there.

VAF Family
Welcome To
The VAF Forums: Don
Winters (IN), Vince Himsl (ID), Brett Woods (Boise, ID)
Milestones
Ready to fly: Bruce Meecham (RV-4 fastback)
"Ready to fly and waiting on paperwork from FAA registration"

Canoe: Mike in Kentucky
"Just wanted everyone to see I'm really building something also and just
not posting. Mike H came over this last Sunday and helped me
finish riveting the forward skins on the plane."

Safety
Probable
Cause #57: Out Of Control
...from avweb's reprint of a June '07 IFR Refresher article
On the morning of Jan. 18, 2000, a King Air Model C-90, on a Part-91,
single-pilot, IFR flight from Columbus, Ohio, crashed into the guy wire
of a 460-foot AGL radio tower on approach to the Somerset-Pulaski
County--J.T. Wilson Field Airport (KSME) in south-central Kentucky. The
pilot and four passengers were killed in the subsequent crash. Somerset
weather at the time of the crash was IFR, but with good surface
visibility -- not what might be considered a challenge for the PIC who
had logged nearly 20,000 hours of flight time during his career. During
the post-crash investigation, discrepancies in the pilot's total flight
time logged wer |