What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

Show us the status of your 7/7A project!

Canopy fibreglass rear skirt

Having a go at making a rear skirt out of fibreglass. Just need to add more protection, cut out some glass using my template and do the layups.
 

Attachments

  • 74227AAA-FEFA-4FD8-94B7-B1B07FE9FE4E.jpg
    74227AAA-FEFA-4FD8-94B7-B1B07FE9FE4E.jpg
    343 KB · Views: 291
  • 84542936-7AB8-46B9-86E8-4B10D7F91B08.jpg
    84542936-7AB8-46B9-86E8-4B10D7F91B08.jpg
    479.7 KB · Views: 248
Templates

Don't bother with trying to layup a perfect shape or use full size sections.
Draw lines you can see through the layup. Cut the pieces 2" longer or wider. A bit of waste but much easier. Lay them down and stagger the seams. When it sets, transfer the lines and lay another layer. Five seems to be a good thickness. When the last layer sets transfer markings, pop it off and cut outside the line. File or sand to final shape.
You may want a doghouse mold up on top.
There's a write up on my blog.
 
Last edited:
DIY?

Did you do this yourself or are those aftermarket pants? I did the same thing on mine and love the mod. I've worked on an RV-7 and -9 that had the lower intersection fairings and it is a much bigger hassle to get your pants off! I'm just curious if someone is making these now or if I would need to make my own again next time I build.

Fun with wheel pants and intersection fairings... there's more work there than at first blush. First coat of epoxy primer:

First coat of primer... by Dave Hock, on Flickr
 
Standard Van's pants with RV Bits (https://www.rvbits.com/) intersection fairings, very nice quality. I will say fitting the wheel pants, leg fairings and intersection fairing is a lot of work, more than I expected. Required a lot of aligning, measuring, cutting, glassing, filling, sanding filling, etc... I figured while I wait and wait for my FW FWD kit (next week I'm told) from Van's and my Thunderbolt engine (this month) I would get these done. I didn't want to leave all the fiberglass to end in any case. If you want to see my progress click on my Flickr page and step back.
 
Last edited:
Excellent

Your work looks excellent. I can assure you it will be worth it. After flying and working on/maintaining my RV for almost 10 years, I've realized that I should do anything I can to make it easier to open things and look at stuff. Making the wheel pants easier to remove and replace makes it much more likely that you'll peek at them once in a while instead of putting it off. Ditto for FWF, tail section, everything. Good work.
 
Engine Mounted

Not anywhere near as bad as I thought it would be. By myself. I've swapped a few engines in cars so I applied a few tricks.
20210415_145234.jpg
 
Nice job Larry... looks like a M1B with dual PMags, same as mine. I'm hoping to have my engine by EOM.

I'm trying to decide where to put my two SS pass throughs for wiring. I'm building a slider and thinking that outside forward 3 ribs is the place to go centered in that bay. Thinking all the engine stuff (CHT, EGT, FF, etc) on the left (pilot) side and then higher voltage on the right.
 
Passthru

Nice job Larry... looks like a M1B with dual PMags, same as mine. I'm hoping to have my engine by EOM.

I'm trying to decide where to put my two SS pass throughs for wiring. I'm building a slider and thinking that outside forward 3 ribs is the place to go centered in that bay. Thinking all the engine stuff (CHT, EGT, FF, etc) on the left (pilot) side and then higher voltage on the right.

Yes. IO360M1B with dual P-mags.
Passthrus are pretty much what you are planning. One each side. One high, one low voltage. Note locations for control cables. Especially the throttle cable on the new A model mount. It goes through the recess. Keep the area above the mount clear so the battery will go in. I'm hoping mine goes in. It's really tight behind the engine.
 
First Flight-

Well, it finally happened.

After a bit of a stumbling block with the non functioning prop governor that took a couple weeks to get resolved, my plane is officially an "air"plane.

Mike Seager came over to Bend yesterday and took it up for its first flight. A few minor squawks, but for the most part she flew well. After addressing some aileron snatch and a overly low idle, Mike and I went up and for a little RV refresher training for me. I definitely need to sharpen those skills more still.

Still a few little things to address including some calibration issues on the passenger side EFIS, and adjusting the idle screw back down now, but mostly just need to work through phase 1 and get used to flying the plane.

A lot going on during my flight, but with no pants on we were seeing 155 TAS at 24/24 at 6500 (IIRC). All the temps looked great and engine seems to be happy so far. One thing that was a bit new to me was how much aero braking that big ol' Hartzell composite prop has when in fine pitch. Need to carry a lot more RPM once the blue knob is in than I am used to, but I've also been flying a fixed pitch 172 recently too so I am quite certain I have that muscle memory right now.

Lastly- Huge thanks to Mike Seager. For those of you needing transition training, or anyone like me who wasn't quite up to doing the first flight, there is absolutely none better than Mike. Truly a great guy to fly with and and absolute gentlemen who provides so much more knowledge than just the flight training side. Mike was quick to help us tweak the ailerons and elevator after that first flight.

Lastly- a couple bad pics. Mike after first flight and a really bad in flight on my first flight.


80-pxl_20210525_185334105_c3a8a0fef96ab5f1ab8bcafc1f919e290e8c8545.jpg
[/IMG]

80-pxl_20210525_222534466_10ba49b46636e9e1a91d3cbb981ff4ab59f4bc4f.jpg
 
Thanks All- hard to believe it's flying. Unfortunately I am working instead of flying toady :-(

Ted, I'll admit that I'd never even heard of the term and yet another reason Mr Seager is so great to have in the community.

The reason was the ailerons were a little "pillowy" between ribs and concave between others. A straight edge, pair of seeming pliers, 2x4 and a hammer (and the expert hands of Mike) and he got them all more consistent and resolved the issue.
 
Thanks Dan,

I hadn't heard the term either, had to look it up. I haven't mounted my ailerons onto my wings yet. I'm going to have another look at them with your experience in mind this evening.
 
First Flight !!!

Congrats on the first flight and getting that prop thing corrected.

BTW you might find that the governor and composite prop will not regulate to lower rpms at full throttle and high speeds. There is a collar stop in the prop limiting the coarse pitch, I had two issues, one in the Hartzell governor which I was guided to fix by the Hartzell tech. The other was the stop. Mine hit the stop when exceeding 160 kts under 2400 RPM. It is a high speed thing, so if anything funny happens send me a PM.
 
Thanks Bill- I'll reach out if I have any issues with it. That thing is a beat of a prop.

Thanks Ryan! Part of the reason was because it was easier apart and the painter is about 4 hangars down so it was pretty easy. Also, I'd probably having too much fun to paint after I started flying.
 
Big day finally arrived!
Ordered on Oct 1st, arrived and installed on June 3:

I have respect for builders persevering with the lead times in this day and age. It didn't used to be that way. Luckily, I think I have all the parts I need in house to toss "my" -8 into the air when I get back to it.
 
At Sun-n-Fun I talked to the Lycoming guy who did the Thunderbolt forum, and he said they have the lead time down to about 5 months now.
 
Jeff Schans at Lycoming/Thunderbolt was great to work with ++. I think I got hit with COVID19 delays and then they had a parts shortage in 1Q, then a delay getting it preserved before shipping... then FedEx took awhile. The engine was incredibly well packed encased in foam and vacuum bagged.

FYI, they would only install one P-Mag at the factory and tested it with the P-Mag and a slave Slick mag.

And yes the "P" car and RV keep good company and share comparable top speeds :)
 
Prop on...at least for awhile while I work on the cowl (James) and baffles then likely off for transport to airport next year. Interesting that the new prop bolts have no provision for safety wire, torque and torque seal is all <Update: per Hartzell you safety wire through the press pins in the nuts>. It's a heavy beast to lift and install, thankfully two strong boys in the house to help dad out!

Prop is on… by Dave Hock, on Flickr

FYI, this is the "extended" hub M2YR specially for the James cowl.
 
Last edited:
Flickr

MotoDave,

I have to say your workmanship looks fantastic. I love the polished look and hope you keep it. The pics on your Flickr account are great in detail and clarity. Your progress has also been impressive.

Good luck on finishing it up!
 
Milestone: Engine On!

So easy an accountant can do it!

Seriously, hanging the engine wasn't too bad thanks to help from my boys, good Van's instructions, Youtube videos, and information from VAF provided by "those who've gone before". Thanks All!

btw...I recognize my professional limitations, so my regular A&P/IA will be by in the morning for a look over.

yep yep...I'm a bean counter by day with an "odd" plane-building hobby by nights & weekends!

Ryan
 

Attachments

  • Engine Hung.jpg
    Engine Hung.jpg
    417.8 KB · Views: 351
Looks great and bet it feels good! I just did my a month or so ago and working on my cowling now.... I wish I had the forward top skin on like you do but waiting to finish the avionics and wiring.
 
Thanks Dave! I like that you are step ahead of me because I can go to your awesome picture log and see how things are done. I look at your pictures all the time.

Ryan
 
My early RV grin...

4,312 days. After nearly 12 years I got my airworthiness certificate for N174PM!
My good friend Mel was thorough, as I knew he would be.
091621002.jpg

091621001.jpg
 
Visual Progress

This was a big week for 6RM.
On the gear and the engine hung...
I'm really excited about pushing forward.
 

Attachments

  • on-the-gear.jpg
    on-the-gear.jpg
    233.1 KB · Views: 327
  • cut-foam.jpg
    cut-foam.jpg
    230.5 KB · Views: 347
  • mounts.jpg
    mounts.jpg
    212 KB · Views: 321
  • finish.jpg
    finish.jpg
    283.7 KB · Views: 373
After fighting with designing a mold (and tweaking it) and fabricating my custom plenum to fit my James cowl for over a month it's finally at state I will call done for now other than a slight trimming of the intakes. I will end up with some sort of very thin gasket on the edges and still need to go around the engine seal with RTV or similar to close all the small gaps between baffles and engine. Tip, if you can buy a plenum do it (I could not), making your own is a ton of work and still pretty darn expensive.

Details: I have 2 layers of 8oz FG on top of a Soric layer and then on the inside a layer of carbon fiber ($) for the body of the plenum. The intakes are multiple layers FG and then a ring of CF on the intakes. I used Fiberglast high temp industrial epoxy as I was concerned about heat soak on shut done. Nut plates are riveted to the inside with SS screws and fiber washer, holes in baffles are slightly oversize to allow some give with temp and engine vibrations. The plenum is pretty light 2-3lbs and very stiff.

I hope it works for me.

https://flic.kr/p/2mANGry
 
Plenum

Beautiful work Dave.
Please keep posting. I'm following because I have an RV Bits plenum to install. Looking forward to seeing how you join the ducts to the inlets.
 
Beautiful work Dave.
Please keep posting. I'm following because I have an RV Bits plenum to install. Looking forward to seeing how you join the ducts to the inlets.

Thanks! I have some neoprene (wet suit material) I will use, tough and very flexible, this is what James recommends. A buddy has used neoprene on his "7" with a James cowl with good results. I was considering using SCAT but too ridged given the short span and sizing didn't work well.

FYI what I learned from this experience is: "friends don't let friends build fiberglass airplanes!" :)
 
Baffling work

Baffling work is not much fun.
Next up is fitting the snorkel.


btw...I reserved an N number last week. N789YZ Nothin special; I just wanted it to sound good and be easy to say.

Ryan
 

Attachments

  • 20211015_Enginebaffles[1].jpg
    20211015_Enginebaffles[1].jpg
    398.6 KB · Views: 280
Back
Top