What's new
Van's Air Force

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

Newbie just purchased flying RV-10

K

kkmarshall

Well Known Member
Purchased #40460 with 500tt after researching for a couple of years,have 20 yrs 1600 hrs in a turbo182rg & decided this was the way I wanted to go. Plane seems squawk-free and I am trying to "go to school" on it in great detail. The previous owner did the inspection on the engine mt where the elastomers rest,no cracks & the doubler is ordered for installation at Feb cond insp. it has the large ft axle spacers from Vans but is the general consensus that a Matco axle is the real way to go? And any tips on hot restarts are appreciated. :)
The Tr182 is a carbed eng so never had to deal with that.
Keith
 
Keith, welcome to VAF and a great decision on the -10.

If you start the engine after a short time, like fuelling up on a trip, leave the mixture at idle cut off and simply start cranking. When it fires up, push the mixture in.

If it has sat for an hour or two, I prime mine for only two or three seconds with the mixture rich, then pull it back out and start cranking.

I do have a Lightspeed ignition which really puts out a hot spark which helps quite a bit.

Best,
 
Welcome to VAF!

Kieth, welcome to VAF.

Like Pierre says, good choice on the 10.

Are you familiar with Pecan Plantation?? Couple of 10s there, might be worth getting to know those folks.

I have the Matco front axle, totally trouble free so far, 200 hours and almost 4 years of flying.

Good to have you here.
 
Rv10 ft axle

So to be clear,the large spacers from Vans are inadequate? Everyone agree the Matco axle is a must?
Keith
 
Empirical data

Keith, you now own an airplane with the stock axel and spacers. If it was me, I would inspect it and determine for myself if it is working OK or not.
 
I have inspected it and preload is good,no rotation of spacers on fork. I was just wondering if experience from the group has shown that eventually the Vans large spacers will lose preload & start to rotate against the fork. In other words do most feel like the need for the Matco axle is a must.
Keith
 
Welcome

Keith,

The Ten is a solid, low maintenance plane that flies well & gets in & out of tight spaces. You find it's easy to upgrade; watch the wallet!
 
The Matco axle will just make your life easier. I would do the installation at the next tire change. Just mind the breakout force carefully to avoid shimmy.
Welcome to the airforce.
 
kkmarshall said:
I have inspected it and preload is good,no rotation of spacers on fork. I was just wondering if experience from the group has shown that eventually the Vans large spacers will lose preload & start to rotate against the fork. In other words do most feel like the need for the Matco axle is a must.
Keith
Click to expand...

The stock axle with the large spacers is adequate. Just make sure that when the wheel turns, the bearings stay in position against the spaces and the wheel turns on the bearings. If at doesn't happen, you can easily remove the axle and take it to a machine shop and "turn it down" (length, not diameter) about 1/8" and that should solve the problem. That is what I have had to do.

If you can make it, come to our RV-10 fly-in at X35 in north FL on Oct 11 and meet a bunch of other -10 owners and see 2-3 projects that are unfinished so you can see how it's built. This will give you the chance to see a bunch of -10's and what different people have done with the aftermarket options. You can also talk to different pilots about power settings for cruise so you can get some good ideas for different cruise options.

Pierre, are you coming down the 11th?
 
Welcome

Be forewarned, you're gonna love that plane! You might even eventually get to like the other folks who fly them :)

My $0.02, I have had the Matco axle from the start and it has been trouble free for 600 hours.

Pierre's description of the hot start mirrors mine except he didn't mention WOT if you are priming for 1-2 seconds, then throttle back to cracked for start. If not priming, just crack it to start. Mike Seager showed me how to do this during transition training and it has never, not once, failed to work on the first try.

The conventional wisdom is that men will never fully understand two things: women and hot starting a fuel-injected engine. Good luck on the women.
 
Ha-ha,yep,been married 35+yrs & I'm sure I will figure out perfect hot starting long before I figure out my wife!
 
1st long cross country

We'll, I made my first long cross country in the RV from central Tx to Pagosa Springs Co and couldn't be more impressed with the speed & economy of the '10. I always thought you RV guys were fudging the numbers a bit but I was trueing 170~174 kts at 11.5 to 12.5 WOT lean of peak at 9.5 gph. I had to burn 12.5 gph in the turbo 182rg to make 155~160 kts at that altitude. Climb was still around 600~800 fpm in the low teens which is quite good for a NA engine. The turbo 182 would still climb 1000fpm at those altitudes but at much slower airspeed.
About the only place the TR182 is better is taking off from Pagosa with a density altitude of say 9500ft. The 182 will get off shorter and climb a bit faster. But all in all I am very impressed with the high altitude performance from a NA plane.
Very happy with my choice.

Keith
 
Keith, I understand the feeling. I have 80 hours on my -10, and I still can't quite believe the numbers in front of me - nothing is that fast and efficient. So, being skeptical, I 've repeatedly conducted 4-way GPS runs. They show that my top speed at 8000' is 182-185 kts, and that my true airspeed error is 1.5 kts slower than actual. :) Sure is a fun ride. This screen shot pretty much exactly matches your numbers, except that I was a couple thousand feet higher.

 
Last edited:
Performance

Yep,pretty amazing economy. Hard for me to fathom that the speed is that good up high with only around 50% power available.

Keith
 
X35

Keith,

Unfortunately, you missed the X35 event ... Thirteen tens (& several sevens) and lot so of hangar talk. Saint Aviation provides the best support for all RV's with the ten being their specialty!
 
Fly-in

Yeah, I just couldn't fit it into my schedule. Jesse sounds like a great guy, I talked with him a while about his builder assistance program but ended up finding 329DR close to home and it seemed like the right choice for me. I know that makes me a bit of a stepchild having not built it myself but I am very pro-active on maintenance and making sure everything is functioning correctly.
Already planning on adding the PlaneAround latch and Aerosport seat adj lever at cond insp in February. Also the Matco axle & PlaneAround wheel fairing bracket spacers. I did most of my annuals on the TR182 with my cooperative IA's supervision. I will do all the tear down for the cond insp and most of the work as well. Eager to learn this bird as well as I knew my Cessna.

Keith
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top