random photo by doug
reeves (unless noted on image)
Fri 11.20.09 1242z TGIF!
Starting out wet here in DFW today, but the weekend looks flyable.
Wishing you a happy, safe and VFR weekend.
Doug Reeves Contact
RV-6RV-3BIFRBlog
●
The New
RVator Is Out!...from the factory.
- Van's personal RV-12
- 51% rule
- Teen Flight Up and Running at Van's
- HNL - a good place to visit
- Copperstate: The RV-12 Way...
- Safety thoughts.
●
EFIS Intangibles ...discussion on the intangibles.
Ironflight.
"I have written in the past about the requirements process when
developing a plan for equipping a new airplane. Basically, you start by
figuring out what you want the airplane to do, then figure out functions
you need to carry out that mission, then figure out what types of
equipment you need to carry out those functions – and only after doing
those steps do you open up catalogs, magazines, and web sites to look at
specific products that will give you those functions. It’s a simple,
logical process that takes a lot of the emotional consumerism out of the
mix. Not that there’s anything wrong with getting emotional about an
airplane, but that should come AFTER you know the cold hard facts."
-->
● Amazing Artwork ....from
John Stahr's artisticaviation.com
(from John) "...thought you'd get a kick out of the latest
job out of my
studio..... Dave Marcum's plane from the Sacramento area.
Bullet holes, gun ports, stacks, six shooter artwork , all he needs is
a tail wheel fairing....
Dave gained 12 mph with the new strut fairings over his fat box
Grove struts.....maybe it was the smooth new paint job too, and all the
bondo has been stripped from its previous paint job...."
● Recently
Updated Lists on the Site...lots of new entries in the link
bucket in the past 24 hrs.
VAF Family ●
A Huge Thank You
...from Matt Sturgis
I just wanted to let everyone know about the surprise I received in
the mail Wednesday afternoon. First, as was announced on VAF
earlier, my wife Somer and I had our third son on November 6th, his name
is Avery. When I got my mail on Wednesday, I noticed there
was a letter from Bob and Judy Avery of Avery Tools. When I opened the
letter I was speechless. Inside there was a letter that said.. "Dear Matt and family:
Congratulations on the new arrival. Enclosed is a
little something to keep the late night feedings and airplane building
going smoothly!!
Signed Bob and Judy Avery"
What was enclosed was not little by any standards. Instead I found
a substantially sized gift certificate to Avery Tools! I can
not begin to express how nice of a gesture this was. It simply amazes me
to see a business take such a personal approach to their customers. I
would like to publicly thank Avery tools (I asked Bob before I posted
this on VAF) for their kindness and generosity!
So what do you guys think? If I have another kid, should I name him
Lycoming?
●
Gazing at RV's and making the wife happy.
...Don Hall
These are not incompatible activities for me anymore. Now when I
look at my wife, I can see a couple RV's doing hammerheads. I go to Osh
and see planes and tools. My wife goes to Osh as sees silver. How can I
say no? One of the vendors at EAA, The Pilot's Cross, does very nice
craftsman quality jewelry. We placed these rv-7 earrings on order at
Osh. Came just in time for the holidays!
Real world short field numbers for the -10
As of yesterday, the wife and I and another couple are looking at a
property that has a 1600' grass strip with an unobstructed
approach over water (A wide river). From what I've experienced
in our new-to-us -10, it should be manageable, lightly loaded
and at 12' elevation (Just north of Beaufort, S.C.)
What kinda real-world short field numbers have you -10 drivers
found?
(reply
in thread from Rob 'Smokey' Ray)
I have been operating my Rocket out of my 1500 foot strip here in
the swamp for five years now with no problems. This summer
my good friend VB bought a gorgeous RV-10 that I purchased
and delivered to ID from here for him. I kept it here at my
place for a week prior to heading west.
I took the liberty of "working" the 10 out here thoroughly
before I turned it over to make sure I was good for mountain
strips. I found some pretty impressive numbers for the big
RV, this is what I used: Swamp numbers: during it's visit it was rainy season,
the first 500' was unusable, very gooey.
Landing: 94F light winds: Approach speed: 65 knots, full flaps,
power 17"/2100 RPM, 20 foot obstacle. (identical to my
Rocket numbers BTW) Flying a power-on approach, the RV10
with just 2 aboard is slightly nose heavy and runs out of
aft trim but slight aft stick pressure will hold 60 KIAS no
worries. I flew power-on until touchdown at 55 Knots, full
stall landing very similar to a loaded 206. Moderate braking
in the soft turf yielded stopping distances of less than
600' consistently.
Takeoff: 95F light winds, 2 persons 1/2 fuel: I used 10 degrees of
flaps and a nose high "bush" takeoff attitude for prop care.
The 10 will lift the nose almost immediately with full aft
stick application upon full power. Holding a 10 degree
attitude while rolling, liftoff occurred at 58-62 knots
allowing a ground effect acceleration and climb out at 1600
fpm at 100 knots to clear the 50 ft trees. Measured distance
590 feet. Idaho: We flew the RV-10 1800 miles to ID and the new owner
asked if we could load it to gross and let him learn how to
fly it worst case. Here are the numbers I collected.
@Gross weight, 92 degrees F, 3800' MSL
Takeoff distance: pavement 940 feet
Initial climb: 1200 fpm@ 100 Knots
Gross weight Landing: Approach speed 70 knots, winds favoring
runway at 12 knots. 92F.
Power on approach yielded stronger sink rate with much less
aft trim required, much easier flare and touchdown, although
more noticeable sink rate. Landing and rollout with moderate
braking: 650 feet.
-->
Smokey
HR2
PS: We just returned from a trip to Ecuador where we were
lucky enough to spend a day in the Amazonian jungle flying
with my MAF Pilot friend Chad. Here is a video of us landing
at a 400 meter strip near the Peruvian border deep in the
amazon jungle. We are in a loaded 206 with an approach
similar to what you described at you place.
PSS: Safety tip: Load the RV-10 exactly like a 206, front
seat pax first, then back seat pax and baggage, then
yourself. Reverse this and she will stand on her tail!
Group Buy Updates ● Update on the
Andair Group Buy
(from Owen at Andair) "Just wanted to give you an update on
the group buy. We are now at 27.
Recently we have put a few vidoes on the website that were shot from
Sun'n'Fun this year.
-
Group buy info
New videos on
Andair site.
(link top right of site)
Milestones
● VAF
Team Sets New Guinness Record (eaa)
Congratulations to the Van’s Air Force FFI RV Formation Team, which
was awarded another Guinness World Record for its 37-ship formation
flight during AirVenture last summer. The RV flyers consist of Formation
Flyers Incorporated (FFI) card holders from nine states. The record tops
the previous record of 35-ships set by the same group in 2007.
...and a hat sighting...
●
A-E-R-O's Lowe's gift card
offer. ...Nov 1 through Dec 31.
Thu 11.19.09 1245z Progress being
made on the sore left shoulder (rotator cuff). Doing my stretches
and seeing progress over the past few weeks. Did the same thing
with the other shoulder about five years ago, and it's completely fine
now. I'm not flying as much as I'd like in order to give this
thing the best shot at a quicker heal. Getting in and out (and
especially moving the plane in and out of the hangar) hurts a bit right
now. At least I've got my guitar - oh wait, that hurts too.
Dog farts! Welcome to middle age, huh? <g>
The only face to face RV thing I did yesterday, besides typing, was lunch
with 8A builder Joe Ferraro. Jersey Mikes
Subs down near his house - never been there before. The food
was GOOD, cheap, and within Vespa range of the casa. Good times.
Stretchy stretchy!
Doug Reeves Contact
RV-6RV-3BIFRBlog
● Operation 'VAF
Link Bucket' Begins....
Want your RV-relevant aviation company URL and/or builder website listed in
here? No problemo. The goal is to have the largest
collection of RV links in the Orion Arm*
of the Milky Way galaxy.
Compiled on day
one....
●
A Discussion on the pluses and minuses of
flying at night ...started
by Frank Stringham
So there I was, October 20 something, 2001, beginning my first
night cross country to fulfill that requirement as I was well on my way
to achieving my PPL......Absolute wonderful experience. Great CFI,
Beautiful Full Moon Night (CFI wasn't happy about that), strings of
lights making a snake leading SW towards Vegas, pockets of lights as we
passed the small cities on our way to Overton, NV. Man what's so hard
about this.....Landed at Perkins (U08), stopped for some snacks, and
talked with a V tail Bonanza Driver we monitored as he was flying from
SoCal to Overton where he spent time in his 2nd home most weekends.
Now it was time to begin the return leg. All was well as we climbed
out at a mighty 450 F/M in that Cessna 150 heavy Then it was time for my
CFI to begin his mind game. Hey did you check that, did you do this, are
you really sure about that, are your radio frequencies correct, what
about the altimeter....................The next thing I knew he grew
quite. Great now I can get on with the business of flying this plane
from THE LEFT SEAT AS THE BIG GUY IN COMMAND.......ya right. He finally
broke the silence and said, "what do you see in front of
us"......"Lights of a city in the near distance", I say. "Would you
expect to see lights of a city", he continued. to my self....aviate,
navigate, communicate.....or was it communicate, navigate,
aviate......?????? In the space of just a few minutes I had turned a 180
and was heading back to Overton. JUST THAT FAST!!!!!!!!!The rest of the
flight went as planned with even some pretty good night landings (NINE)
back home at Saint George (KSGU). I really like this night stuff!
Now fast forward to 2007 and I am in the middle of building my
RV7A. This bird is going to be an IFR and night qualified. I was working
on the lighting components as This machine could be a Christmas
tree...remember Christmas Vacation. In walks my good friend who
has combat experience off a carrier, airline Capt., great pilot who
notes what I am doing and wants to know about my Mission for the
airplane. "Day/NIGHT/IFR aircraft", I say. "WHAT?" he says.
continue
● Factory Thanksgiving Announcement
"We will be closed on Thursday Nov. 26th and Friday Nov. 27th for
Thanksgiving. Phone, Fax, e-mail and Web Orders placed after 12PM
noon (Pacific Time) on Wednesday, November 25th will be processed on
Monday November 30th. We apologize for any inconvenience this
causes."
●
Winter RV-3A Acro ...six minutes of fun in the sun with Lee Apaka
of NoCal. "Aloha all-here's a link to the video of me with my rv-3 doing
rolls and loops & the yank/bank club on a fine winter day in NorCal last
week"
Community Snapshot
● The cockpit of N811JR ...Jimmy Risher (jimmyrisher 'at' gmail)
Advertiser's Corner...sent in by the advertisers of this
site. ● Flight Data Systems
Press Release
"Flight Data Systems is pleased to announce the release of its
GT-50 Accelerometer in a milled aluminum enclosure. Effective 11/18/09,
all GT-50's use the new enclosure. The price remains unchanged at $169
(Free shipping too!). Please see the attached image."
Regards,
Charles Newman
Flight Data Systems 346 Keokuk Street Petaluma, CA
94952
831-325-3131 www.fdatasystems.com
Wed 11.18.09 1236z
● First Flight: Jim Frisbie
RV-9A N571DF flew for the first time on Sat. Nov. 14th, 2009 from
Lenhardt's AirHaven, Hubbard OR.
Some engine roughness, but it flew fast and true, stalling at 40 kts &
indicating 150 kts at 23 in.Hg. Many thanks to
the crew at Van's, especially Joe Blank. I received lots of help and
good
advice from Jerry VanGrunsven, Stan VanGrunsven, Tom Hinkley, Larry
Beck,
our friends at Lenhardt's, and in EAA chapters 902 and 105. Also a note
of
appreciation to my wife and partner Rinya in this amazing process.
N571DF is equipped with an 0-320 from Aero Sport Power, Hartzell C/S
prop.
Dual AFS 3500/3400 EFIS/engine monitor, TruTrak AP & Garmin Radios.
Paint by
Metal Inovations of Aurora, OR.
●
Honor System Donations For The Year
Updated ...think of this site as a magazine you take off the
shelf to enjoy daily. Then at the end of the year, if you feel you
got some value out of it, send in $25.
Our 14yr old daughter helped do the typing updating the list this time, since
virtually all money donated goes into her and Tate's college savings
accounts (advertiser money goes to house, health insurance, electricity,
food, servers, etc). School update: Audrey is currently ranked 109th in her
high school freshman class of 876, which puts her in the top 12%
(within striking distance of a state university's top 10% acceptance
rule).
We're
working hard to improve! Approximately 13% of the daily readers have sent in a
honor system donation so far in '09, and we are grateful (figure based on
unique I.P. addresses visiting).
Our family thanks you for helping support this small business.
dr
●
Landing an RV-6 According To Fazio
I now have over a hundred hours on my 6. I am happy to say I can
consistently land her pretty well. That wasn’t the case when I started
flying it. You may have read my post when I first started flying it. I
was having trouble landing. I was bouncing the heck out of it and
couldn’t seem to get it on the ground smoothly. My first landing was a 3
point landing and I somehow landed pretty good, but it was all down hill
from there. I have flown a bunch of different aircraft and quite a few
tail draggers. The usual Cessna and pipers while training, and then a
Rans S-10, Tailorcraft, EAA bipe, Luscombe, Citabria, Skybolt, Pitts,
and a bunch of different ultralights etc. I was always able to grease
what ever I flew on to the runway. Even my friends RV-4, I had no
problem, 3 pointing it every time. I have to say that landing to me was
always the most fun part of flying. It takes the most skill and I just
enjoyed it most. When I would fly my Rans S-10, I would get bored
buzzing around the sky and always want to go do some landings. Then I
got my RV-6 flying and I thought I had lost my touch. Here is my 2 cents
for those interested. I in no way pretend to be an authority on this,
but maybe I can help someone having the same problem.
First my 6 has the tall main gear. My friends 4 had the older short
gear. Big difference in my opinion. The 6 with tall gear does not behave
the same and I’m guessing any tail dragger RV with the tall gear will be
the same. It does not want to 3 point. The aircraft sits at exactly the
angle required to float down the runway to the lowest possible speed. A
slightly higher angle of attack and it would be stalled. A slight lower
angle of attack and it would sink onto the ground. Once on the ground
the wings are so close to the ground that the stalled wing wants to
still fly. In order to 3 point it on you must get it to a higher angle
of attack than when it sits on the ground. This is really high and it is
difficult to see down the runway. Plus it is awkward at this angle. It
seems to slightly stall and then grab some air all of a sudden, making
it difficult to float smoothly down the runway. I have never flown a
plane that had this strange behavior. You can be 1 foot off the ground
cruising down the runway bleeding off speed and all of a sudden she
drops quickly, so you pull back on the stick and now your all up and
down and out of shape.
I now routinely land it in a tail low wheel landing, as others have
called it. I never liked wheel landings before. The aircraft I had flown
could be landed very well in a 3 point attitude and that was the slowest
landing possible. I liked landing slow. The 6 wants to wheel land. My
problem in the beginning was that I was not lifting the tail enough
after touching down and it was still bouncing along down the runway.
What I did was to pick the tail up on a support while sitting next to my
hanger. I leveled the plane and then got in and sat in it. The tail was
way higher than I though it would be when sitting in the plane level.
The next time I landed it I had the confidence to raise it much higher
than I had been. This plants it on the ground.
continue
Screen shot from Richard Fazio's site
Technically-Oriented
Model-Specific Thread Activity (snapshot this morning 1155z)
Milestones ●
Prop Arrives ...Brian
Ameritech, American Propeller, Eagle Engines have been outstanding.
The group buy worked out perfectly for me, even got my prop early. I was
planning paying the balance around the end of December and delivery
spring 2010, but when I called to check on status last month, Kevin said
when do you want it? So I sent him paint codes and a big check. 3 weeks
later here's what showed up on my doorstep....ok it was in a package all
safe and secure.
-->
Safety ●
Hudson River rules take effect Nov. 19 (aopa)
The New York City Class B Hudson River exclusion zone will become a
special flight rules area (SFRA) on Nov. 19. While this may change how
some pilots operate in the area, the airspace will remain open for
general aviation pilots to get a bird’s-eye view of the famous skyline
and Statue of Liberty.
continue
Building Tips / Techniques/ Mods ●
1 More MUST-have worklight ...Bill R.
I must have four different trouble/work lights and this one has
replaced them all. No more rechargeable battery to worry about (Just
keep three spare AA batteries handy. I still don’t know how long they
last as it hasn’t burnt through the set I put it in last month). No more
extension cords to close the canopy on. No more dim light.
-->
You can choose lists sorted by:
1. Country / State / Last Name
2. Last Name
3. Model
I'm currently revamping
the RV White Pages front end and will push that out when it's done.
You'll be able to pick what you want from drop down boxes and click
'Submit'. Something along those lines, at least. In the mean
time....plain 'ol PDF files <g>.
Tue 11.17.09 0952z
●
Pilots N Paws Rescue Flight
Inspired by Pete Howell's recent post, I hooked up with this group
to take a little dog from Tupelo to Columbia, S.C. If you want to create
some smiles and give a little boost to the public perception of general
aviation this is one way to do it. For the full story you can see my
blog.
-->
Bob Leffler's Flexible Conduit Runs
I ran the standard Van’s .75”
flexible conduit to the comm antenna under the rear seats (one
on each side) , then one of the .75” Van's flexible conduit and
a 1.25” flexible innerduct from Anixter on each side to the
tailcone.
You can see the route of each conduit in the
following photo.following photo. I wanted to keep the larger
conduit near the battery mount for the fat cables.
Here's where they came out
on the rear seat panel. (not the best picture). This allows the
conduit to hide behind the access panel and run forward through
the lightening holes in the bulkheads.
-->
Mon 11.16.09 1225z Baylor won the
second half by 14 points, but the problem was that they lost the first
half by 40. Joe Ferraro (8A) texting me about it during the game
didn't make it go down any better either <g>. Oh well, it was nice
to spend the day with friends. I haven't been to a college
football game in about 20 years, so this was a treat to visit my alma
mater for a few hours. Go Bears.
Pruned out classified forum threads older than 30 days as well as
anything over 14 days old in the 'test/misc' section. Normal
housekeeping....
18G28KT 40° off the centerline all day in Dallas today...not exactly the
most enjoyable of flying weather. Better Wx in Florida where
Atlantis is sched'd to launch today 2:28pm EST (watch).
Wishing you a nice Monday.
Doug Reeves Contact
RV-6RV-3BIFRBlog
iPhone pic when we were
only down by 21 <g>
●
Finding "Lightness of Soul" ...Guy Prevost
I've been away from home for most of 3 months. The last two of
those without a visit home. For the last year my work has been stressful
beyond belief. It's been a year of 60-70 hour work weeks culminating in
a 10 minute flight. Pass or fail. I passed; now it's time to get on with
life.
First things first. The wife had a day off, so I spent the day
enjoying her company and getting re-acquainted to life at home. What a
joy to be back among my family! However, lurking in the back of my mind
was the lingering question. How would Jane Plane, my aluminum mistress,
respond to my absence? Would she awaken to my touch, or remain cold and
uncaring as I tried to breathe life back into her. Would she take to the
air? Would I be able to handle her if she did? All of these questions
lingered in my mind as I attended to the more important and less
stressful household needs.
Today the wife was back at work, the pets were fed, the weather was
good. I was out of excuses. I examined myself mentally and wondered at
the ambivalence I felt towards the trip to the airport. It was a strange
feeling. I've never left Jane for this long. Not when she was a freshly
conceived empennage, not when she was an infant with only a few hours.
She's barely in her adolescence now, with only 110 hours on her
electronic clock. My spirits refused to rise as I arrived at the
airport. I trolled the local hangars for the usual suspects, stopped at
the FBO, and finally made my way to the hangar. As the door raised,
there she was. Looking like I never left. Her tires were round, her
tanks were full and un-contaminated. I checked her oil and pulled her
prop through several times to circulate it. I delayed further by
installing the latest software update in her electronic brain. Finally,
there were no more excuses. I pulled her out, ran through the pre-start
checklist twice and pushed the start button. As she roared to life and
settled down to a contended purr, the stress started subsiding. I've
done this before! Time to fly.
Run-up was nominal and I started her down the runway after one more
quick glance at my takeoff checklist. Holy Smokes! I forgot how quickly
she gets off the ground when solo! DA is several thousand feet lower
than when I left , allowing me to get nearly 80% power for takeoff. What
a treat! We were at pattern altitude before the end of the runway and
Westbound. Wings dipping first left then right, as followed the winding
desert path of the Rio Puerco. Then a climbing roll and a turn back to
home. Traffic was light and a full stop landing wasn't going to satisfy.
A quick call to the tower, flaps up, and power in. We're flying once
more. Last landing was short field on the numbers, ready to turn off in
less than 1000'. Too bad there's not a taxiway there.
As I parked Jane in her spot and gently wiped her down, I marveled
at the change that had come over me. Once again Jane was an airplane I
knew how to fly. Not another lingering obligation left unanswered. Care,
planning, and diligence had paid off. I was flying again. A flurry of
thoughts and emotions surrounded me, but most of all I was struck by the
lightness of my soul.
●
Lunch with Megan ...Pete Howell
The calendar and the colors are telling us that late fall has
arrived in the Northern Plains, but the thermometer says it is still
nice flying weather. Last night I asked the usually booked solid older
daughter if she would like to join Bernie and me for a fly out lunch,
and she said "My homework is done, let's do it!" So off we went. Weather
forecast and reality matched right up, so we packed a lunch and headed
off to one of my favorite little airports, Rushford.
-->
●
Flying for Great Cajun Food! ...Iron
If you're looking for a GREAT fly-in Cajun restaurant in southern
Louisiana, you need to fuel up and fly down to Welsh (6R1). A small town
just to the east of Lake Charles, I've driven past here many times on
trips across I-10, and noticed the sleepy little airport - but never
stopped. Turns out that a short three-block walk from the runway is a
Cajun restaurant by the name of "Cajun Tales" with food that is to die
for!
Our group of our airpark residents held a little fly-out for lunch
today, and wow, was it worth it. I tired their catfish with Crawfish
Etuffe' and onion rings on the side - better than any I've had anywhere
in Louisiana (and I've had some GOOD food in the state...)! Louise had a
stuffed fish plate that she just raved over.
The airport operator was friendly as could be - wanted to give us a
ride over to the restaurant, but we felt like walking. He stopped by the
restaurant to see how we were doing, and then when we were done, opened
up his hangar to show us a big old Ag Cat (his family has been a dealer
for them), a beautiful Gull-wing Stinson, and an -8A that belongs to a
fellow there. It was a great, no-pace chance to just sit and talk
airplanes before flying home.
We are definitely going to have to organize an RV fly-out to Cajun
Tales, as soon as we've exercised off this one! <g>
●
Small world out there
While cruising along about 200mph at 3,500 feet, Monroe, LA
approach informed me that there was traffic southbound at 2,500 feet.
I spotted a swift orange and white plane crossing under me which I
was almost positive was Mark Burns. Controller at Monroe was not in
communication but it sure looked like his RV.
Got home and there was a PM from him. He was monitoring and
confirmed it was him.
It's a small world out there.
Webb Willmott
Jackson, MS
RV7A - "Sting"
Construction ●
The Ghost of RV Past
...and the enjoyable horror of RV present <g>. A panel upgrade
begins...
Video ●
Belly and Tail
Cam ...email sent to me by Roger
I'm forwarding this link that my friend took on our way to
the annual Winterhaven, Florida fly in. He has mounted two cameras on
his plane and I thought that this video was exceptional. Enroute was
shot from the "Bellycam" mounted on his RV6A and the landing was
switched over tol the "Tailcam". His landing was done in formation with
our buddy "Crazy Eddy" in his RV9A. As you can see from the video, the
weather was just another "horrible" day in Florida.
Advertiser's Corner...sent in by the advertisers of this
site. ● Aircraft Spruce
Product Release
"Our
latest release is attached on a new product that we are offering called
EZ Flap. This is a manual flap assist device which pilots will find to
be very helpful."
● OT: 'Comic Book Effect'
action for Photoshop ...stumbled across this action that turns a
photo into a 'comic book picture'. If you have Photoshop you can
download the free action
here. A couple samples of this action in action...
Forum Life ●
A Walk In My Shoes: Life as the VAF Online Community Manager
.....a couple of articles that really word it well. So you know how when you get three pilots in the same car
they can't agree on everything? Life as planet Earth's only full
time, RV-specific online community manager means I'm riding right seat
with 11,057 (at this writing) pilots in the same virtual car...and they all have
keyboards....and opinions.
I came across a couple of articles that very accurately describe what I'm
trying my best to do in this role, as well as why I do some of the things I do.
The first is titled 'What
Is An Online Community Manager', and it goes into the duties and
personality traits the job requires. The second is 'Abuse
Equals Effective Community Manager', and basically states that
getting the occasional mud slung at me means that I'm doing my job
effectively. The fact that so very little is actually slung is,
again, a testament to the quality of the people in this community.
I hold the volunteer
moderators to the same standards as myself, and
I thank
them again for helping. A distinguished bunch. The current
ratio is one moderator for every 409 registered members.
Close out today by taking five minutes to read these two articles, and you'll
hopefully see why I honestly believe the VAF Forums are so special in
the online world. There are some unbelievably angry spots on the
web, and thankfully this will never be one of them.
Fri 11.13.09 1238z Wishing all the
RV community a happy, safe and VFR weekend! My Baylor Bears face
the Texas Longhorns this Saturday. Go Bears.
Doug Reeves Contact
RV-6RV-3BIFRBlog
●
First Passenger!...Don McNamara
After 13 years of building, it's about time I get to post an
in-flight portrait!
When the time was right after completing Phase I, I invited my
spousal unit to join me in a quick, sunset flight and she accepted. Her
unwavering (and somewhat unjustified) faith in my abilities was
gratefully appreciated as we circled the house a few times and enjoyed
the sunset. A nice landing made the moment memorable for us both.
●
Veteran's Day Missing Man Video Clip... ...Seb Trost
Here's a quick clip of our flight over the Southern Nevada
Veteran's Cemetery yesterday for their Veteran's day ceremony.
- 4-Ship led by Mark Dulaney.
- Seb Trost #2
- Mike Smith #3
- Bill Rambo #4
We're all vets and were honored to be able to do this
yesterday.....
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G-HUTY's Panel is Born ...Steve Hutt in the U.K.
The panel has still got a lot of growing up to do so thought I'd
share my panel layout so far for some validation of my ideas on what I
have left to do....
This is the first time I've shown any of my build photos on VAF.
G-HUTY will be an RV-7 with a tip-up canopy and TMX-IO-360M1B built
under the UK LAA Permit To Fly regulations.
Panel blank is a
hand-made one which is a fraction under 1.5 inches deeper than the Van's
standard panel.
LAYOUT:
P1 Left is an ASI & ALT. (Backup instrument are mandatory in the
UK.
There’ll be a mandatory compass on top of the glare shield too).
P1 Centre is an AFS AF-3500 with VSI, TT ADI and AFS AF Pilot
underneath.
Centre is a Garmin 695 in an AirGizmo with a Garmin 240 Audio Panel
under and throttle, prop and mixture at bottom (yes, I know, in the
wrong order in the photo). Controls are fitted flush in the panel rather
than setback as in the plans. I've seen plenty of people fit the
standard bracket flush rather than setback so am happy with my
configuration.
P2 Centre is a hole for the (on order) P2 AF-3500 with COM1, TXPR &
COM2 (all from Funkwerks) underneath.
continue
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A Walk In My Shoes: Life as the VAF Online Community Manager
.....a couple of articles that really word it well.
