Kyle Boatright
Well Known Member
Made the first flight of the RV-10 this evening in boiling summer heat. The highest CHT got up to 437 on initial climb, but after I accelerated to 130 knots, it came down below 400. All 6 cylinders stayed there for the remainder of the flight, with #'s 4 and 6 being ~395 and the others up to 40F less. Oil temperatures, oil pressures, etc. were all happy.
The airplane flew straight and true with no aerodynamic squawks at all. One thing I was happy about (given that it was over 90F at the time of the flight), was the performance of the vents in the overhead console. They really blow a lot of fresh air, which was very welcome. Despite not having flown a "trike" more than about 3 hours in the last 20 years and only having 4-5 hours of fuel injected or constant speed time <ever>, I didn't manage to mismanage either system, so that was a good thing. The landing came off well, with the nosewheel right on the centerline with touchdown pretty much where I'd planned.
I'd expected to do the first flight yesterday, but found that the starter ring gear was rubbing on an inside corner of the upper air inlet/ramp, so I cut the offending material off and glassed in a recess before work this morning. It was hot enough here that the epoxy had hardened by lunchtime when I re-cowled the airplane.
It has been a couple of years since I flew a -10, and I remembered it being heavy on the controls compared to the -6. Yep, mine's heavy on the controls compared to the -6 too. Different missions, but wow, the 2 seater requires a lot less "oomph" to make it do what you want.
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The airplane flew straight and true with no aerodynamic squawks at all. One thing I was happy about (given that it was over 90F at the time of the flight), was the performance of the vents in the overhead console. They really blow a lot of fresh air, which was very welcome. Despite not having flown a "trike" more than about 3 hours in the last 20 years and only having 4-5 hours of fuel injected or constant speed time <ever>, I didn't manage to mismanage either system, so that was a good thing. The landing came off well, with the nosewheel right on the centerline with touchdown pretty much where I'd planned.
I'd expected to do the first flight yesterday, but found that the starter ring gear was rubbing on an inside corner of the upper air inlet/ramp, so I cut the offending material off and glassed in a recess before work this morning. It was hot enough here that the epoxy had hardened by lunchtime when I re-cowled the airplane.
It has been a couple of years since I flew a -10, and I remembered it being heavy on the controls compared to the -6. Yep, mine's heavy on the controls compared to the -6 too. Different missions, but wow, the 2 seater requires a lot less "oomph" to make it do what you want.
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