The VAF News - 6.3.2026. #6545.

[DeltaRomeo]

Passed The Most Important Inspection

Just back from the paint shop. Passed the rigorous grandchildren ramp check……

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Introducing … The Valkyrie Known as Myst!

The F1 flew for the first time this morning, and earned her name – the Valkyrie known as “Myst”. We did the first and second flights before noon - the first a quick short hop over the field to verify proper handling and engine/system operations (EAA Test Card 1) and the second (Test Card 2) to...

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NEW RV10 PAINT JOB

The pictures really don’t do this one justice. Thank you Bobby and Alex for trusting us with your plane! Huge shout out to Autumn with Evoke on this design. If you attend Oshkosh this year keep an eye out for it!

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Meditations on a Grounded RV

XXVI. On Baffles Upon an idle engine A divider to endow, In shiny sheets of silver Borders bracing on the brow, A royal crown for cooling On the queen of throbbing thrust, To guard against a galling Overheated head to bust; Behold! The angled anchors Latch the leaves upon the...

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First Flight: Eileen Bjorkman’s RV-8 | Eugene, OR RV-8 #83465

https://www.vansaircraft.com/first-flights/eileen-bjorkmans-rv-8/

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Engine pump to carb hard fuel line?

Just out of curiosity, why have I only seen hoses from the engine driven fuel pump to the carburetor? Pump and carb are solidly mounted to each other, so there should not be any motion/vibration issues. It seems to me that a nicely bent hard fuel line would be more compact and certainly much...

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John, at the risk of getting burned by the flame war on the horizon, I'll answer this. Obviously a rigid tube has a smaller OD for the same ID as a hose. Sometimes a tighter bend radius, depending on the bend die thats used. In the above pic, the multiple bends will absorb any vibration and potential misalignment. It does take practice, patience and skill to make a custom rigid tube like that. That being said, most builders dont have the tools, practice, or time, and use teflon hoses. YES, teflon has a larger bend radius, especially with firesleeve. Yes, teflon is not life limited, and somewhat easier to use. I can tell you that making custom rigid tubes for installs from emails or non prototyped drawings is tough, and generally wasted time and expense. You never know if its going to fit, unless you are actually at the plane and do mockups. and you never know if there is something that will interfere with the tube. Pic below was Michael's I0540 circa 2018 with his stainless tube. Well designed, supported and fabricated. So, for most builders, teflon hose is the answer, but YES YMMV.

Clickbond nutplates: any advice?

I have to install a couple nutplates in a very difficult to reach location inside my fiberglass wingtip for my new navlights, a friend suggested I use these. Anyone have any experience with them? TIA

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Thanks for another alternative. Not structural, long story short, I had to replace my navlights with something else, instead of seeing if there was an alternative with the same footprint I grabbed the first shiny thing, without realizing the footprint was different, AND it was going to be a PITA to get a nutplate into the wingtip at the the trailing edge. Someone said That's a perfect place for a Clickbond. As Matt said-and as I learned-the surface has to be well prepared, so I'm on the second try.
The extreme holes on each end are where I have to put a #6 nutplate, you can see where the previous nutplate and wire access hole was.
It's all part of the adventure.

Oil tube and engine mount interference

My engine (io 360) is mounted. When trying to screw in the oil filling tube won’t go into the engine due to the mount. I need about 5-10 degrees of an offset to get the tube in. I would imagine others had this issue too.

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OFF TOPIC:



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Past ‘VAF News’ issues:

Doug's Area ...The VAF News, About VAF, My Resume

Pushed out every now and then.

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