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New RV Owner

Latech15

Well Known Member
I have finalized the purchase of an already flying RV6A, and will be going out to pick up the plane this weekend. Thanks to all who have helped me get connected with a ferry pilot/transition trainer. He will be flying most of the way back home (from California to Louisiana) with me and doing the training along the way. The plane is a 2013 completed model with skyview touch PFD/MFD dynon AP with a GTN650 navigator. I can't really describe how excited I am about owning my first plane and the trip back to get her home.

I wanted to start this post so I could post pics of the pickup and the trip back.
 
Good luck!

Very wise of you to get some extended time with a transition instructor. My -9A is hardly difficult to fly, but I still learned a LOT of useful stuff from a guy who really knew RVs.
 
Congratulations! I acquired my flying 6A 7 years ago now, and it still puts the same grin on my face every time I fly it. Your time in transition training should serve you very well; the 6 is not a difficult airplane to fly at all, but it's not like most GA planes either, so once you understand the differences and accommodate to them, it's just a sweetheart. Wishing you a great flight home!
 
I agree with Dugaru. I just bought my RV7a and had the same thoughts, I'll get the training on the way to Oregon from Florida with Mike Seager. I was a new pilot with 43 hrs, but landings and take offs are very different from a 172. Took 2 days to get to Oregon with several landings, and another 3 days in Oregon. Lots of discussion along the way picking his brain but that didn't meet the experience needed to land the plane and feel comfortable. Now I have over 100 hours since June on the plane and still have lots to learn. Have fun, The RV's are great!
 
I made it back last night with lots of stories and cool experiences. The trainer that flew with me was great and I highly recommend him for training or ferrying if you have a need for either.

We made it from KSMX to KPVW the first day with a few fueling stops along the way. The 6/6A is a 2 hour plane. It holds more fuel than that, but you definitely want to get out and stretch your legs after that. We got up the second day and did lots of touch and goes before battling weather around Dallas. I dropped him off at KDAL and left there on my own the rest of the way to Louisiana. I was a little nervous leaving out of there on my own, but it turned out to be no different than leaving my home non-towered airport, just a longer line and lots of taxi instructions. The landing back home was great. I was a little concerned about it so I told my family that I would be there about 20 mins after my scheduled arrival so they wouldn't witness my going around or bouncing the landing! In the end, I landed it and just chilled out in the plane waiting for them to arrive.

Ill figure out how to upload images and post them shortly.
 
Couple questions -

#1. I am having a really rough mag drop on one pmag. The plane has dual pmags. Either timing issue or a fouled plug. Previous owner/builder says he never saw either. Replacing the plugs seems like the easiest fix since trying to burn off the fouling didn?t work. Any advice here or suggestions would be helpful.

Also, I?m figuring out the software update deal with the Garmin and the Dynon systems. It seems like these will take a little time. The previous owner had a portable power supply that he could plug into the cigarette lighter that fed the ebus, but I can?t seem to find anything online about that. What are you guys doing for ground power?
 
If your efis is logging engine data it can help decipher mag vs plug. Also which cylinder is offending so you know where to focus your attention.
 
One problem solved, another pops up....


The bad mag check was caused by the bottom spark plug wire on the #3 cylinder coming off the plug. Found it before I took the lower cowl off. She runs up just fine now.

On todays flight, my GTN650 kept flip flopping and eventually went to 121.50 as if you were holding down a remote flip/flop switch. This happened after flying through some rain, so I am going to check and make sure that I don't have water getting in somewhere.

Still need to replace a #4 CHT probe as well.

Im completely at a loss as to the visual approaches on the GTN 650. I simply don't know where it is taking me. I am within 10 miles of the airport on an extended left base. I activate the visual and the AP turns me WAY in the wrong direction and tells me that I am 25 miles from the destination. I have tried this a few different ways and I always end up shutting it off. Anybody care to hold my hand on visual approaches?
 
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If you have a remote Flip/Flop switch wired to the control stick, odds are you have a short to ground on that circuit. That was my issue in the past, same failure mode. If not, you may have a terminal in the back of the GTN 650 radio connector that is contacting/touching the remote Flip/Flop Pin driving it to ground?
 
Sounds like you?re going through ?new aircraft owner? pains. Don?t let the radio and engine surprises get you down. We all go through a little acquisition transition pain as we learn about our newly purchased RV. Assuming you got a good prebuy and your transition training pilot did a reasonable job of education about RVs you should consider these issues ?learning opportunities? about your aircraft.

The nice thing about RVs is you can do most of the work yourself (along with a knowledgeable local EAA tech counselor to make sure you?re fixing it correctly) and get to better know your aircraft. Welcome to the ?other club? of RV owners. Those who purchased one.
 
There is a flip/flop switch that used to be wired to the control stick. I found an old post by the builder who said that he kept hitting it inadvertently so he disabled it. I am going to see if it would be easier to try and trace the issue to the line somewhere, or just find a way to disconnect it at the GTN end of the wiring run.
 
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