40.3 Hours!
That's right.. N523RV has 40.3 hours now and is free to roam about the country and take passengers!
This past weekend I finished flight testing and flew a TON of time... 8 hours on Satureday and another 4. something on Sunday. Did some climb tests and some stall testing. Did a fuel burn calculation. Mostly a lot of cross country. Sunday morning was a very windy day, so I got to practice some crosswind/strongwing landings. I landed at EMP on 19 with winds of 150 at 21 gusting 26. It was an OK landing but did plop it down a bit.
Overall impressions: The RV-9A is a fantastic airplane. It is an extremely smooth flyer, very steady. It is very easy to land although it takes some practice to get it slowed down. The tip-up canopy provides great visibility. From a speed point of view I'm getting about 178mph at 2550rpm without gear leg fairings. The engine plenum is doing an excellent job of cooling.. probably too good! So far I've had to keep the oil cooler completely blocked off to get the oil temps to get to 180, keeping in mind that the weather has been in the 40's.
Outstanding Issues:
The James Aircraft induction system is causing turbulent airflow in the airbox mounted to the carb which is causing mixture problems. This has been confirmed by Will James and he is working on a better setup.
I have a small shimmy somewhere. I'm not sure if it is the nosewheel or a main gear leg. I only get it when taxing.. never on landing or take-off. It 'might' be a sticky brake as I noticed when I pulled the plane in the hangar the left brake was squeeking.
CDI isn't working.. haven't done any troubleshooting.
My artifical horzion (RC Allen Electric) wanders and doesn't stay level. I got it from another RV-9A builder who only had it for a couple hundred hours.. it shouldn't be failing but I have heard NUMEROUS reports of problems with the electric RC Allen units.
My Low Fuel sensors still don't work even after a modification to the brain by Rich.
I'm noticing a very small amount of brake fluid on the right brake actuator on the pilot side.
What Now?
With 40 hours on the plane, I am going to do a thorough inspection of the whole plane... probably use the annual condition checklist. I have the cowl off and am in process of doing an oil change. I did a very close visual inspection of the engine already and identified a few oil drips. One at the temperature vernatherm, another at the oil pressure sensor. Everything else in the engine comparment looks pretty good. No chafing that I could see anywhere.
Sandi and I are planning on cross-country trip this weekend to celebrate and to give her a first ride. Still undecided where we are going.
Watch out! Here we come!
This past weekend I finished flight testing and flew a TON of time... 8 hours on Satureday and another 4. something on Sunday. Did some climb tests and some stall testing. Did a fuel burn calculation. Mostly a lot of cross country. Sunday morning was a very windy day, so I got to practice some crosswind/strongwing landings. I landed at EMP on 19 with winds of 150 at 21 gusting 26. It was an OK landing but did plop it down a bit.
Overall impressions: The RV-9A is a fantastic airplane. It is an extremely smooth flyer, very steady. It is very easy to land although it takes some practice to get it slowed down. The tip-up canopy provides great visibility. From a speed point of view I'm getting about 178mph at 2550rpm without gear leg fairings. The engine plenum is doing an excellent job of cooling.. probably too good! So far I've had to keep the oil cooler completely blocked off to get the oil temps to get to 180, keeping in mind that the weather has been in the 40's.
Outstanding Issues:
The James Aircraft induction system is causing turbulent airflow in the airbox mounted to the carb which is causing mixture problems. This has been confirmed by Will James and he is working on a better setup.
I have a small shimmy somewhere. I'm not sure if it is the nosewheel or a main gear leg. I only get it when taxing.. never on landing or take-off. It 'might' be a sticky brake as I noticed when I pulled the plane in the hangar the left brake was squeeking.
CDI isn't working.. haven't done any troubleshooting.
My artifical horzion (RC Allen Electric) wanders and doesn't stay level. I got it from another RV-9A builder who only had it for a couple hundred hours.. it shouldn't be failing but I have heard NUMEROUS reports of problems with the electric RC Allen units.
My Low Fuel sensors still don't work even after a modification to the brain by Rich.
I'm noticing a very small amount of brake fluid on the right brake actuator on the pilot side.
What Now?
With 40 hours on the plane, I am going to do a thorough inspection of the whole plane... probably use the annual condition checklist. I have the cowl off and am in process of doing an oil change. I did a very close visual inspection of the engine already and identified a few oil drips. One at the temperature vernatherm, another at the oil pressure sensor. Everything else in the engine comparment looks pretty good. No chafing that I could see anywhere.
Sandi and I are planning on cross-country trip this weekend to celebrate and to give her a first ride. Still undecided where we are going.
Watch out! Here we come!
posted by Matthew at 4:02 PM
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