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My experience with SBs, and cracks

Cammie Patch

Active Member
I have two RV12 SLSAs in my school, and I am an A&P/IA, LSRM, and Rotax-Heavy qualified. I love these planes but want to publish some of my experiences to help you all out.

1. Definitely check for exhaust pipe cracks, even if yours isn't the one in the SB. I found my #2 exhaust completely broken in half yesterday. There had been a couple of flights that way. The #2 CHT was weird at first, acting opposite of what I would expect on a normal flight, then the EGT went sky high, but almost like it was a probe failing. The main issue was the exhaust that was staining the outside of the cowling where the hinge pin tab is. Also, it ran rough.
2. When it rains it pours. On the same day, while doing an annual, we found a crack on the bearing bracket that is in the SB. Sigh.
3. We have replaced both VRs with the Silent Hectic and love them. Don't leave the rotax original versions on your planes, they can cause damage to the circuit boards.
4. I opened up the gearboxes on both RV12s and shimmed them tight as possible. Made a huge difference.
5. Upload your engine data to savvyanalysis.com to analyze it. It is free.

Here is a link to mine: https://apps.savvyaviation.com/my-flights/19495/8b39700b-8570-4a77-9474-6db2875dfa2f
 
Did you use the Silent Hektik with the AGM battery charging profile, straight to 14.0V and max amps, or the version for LiFe04 with the 5 stage charging schedule in the first 30 minutes, before full 14.0v starts getting delivered?
 
Since it's an SLSA, we can't switch to the EarthX batteries, but, it does charge at the slower-to-ramp-up speed.

So does ours. I?d rather see a different charging setup, and I was worried about battery charging on short hops. Have not seen any issues, though, even on days when I flew 4-5 short Young Eagle flights. We did just replace the battery, but at 9 or 10 years old it was time.
 
I added shims per the mx manual to take up any slack caused by bellville washers flattening out. This keeps the gearbox tighter so less chatter.
 
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