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RV7ForMe

#59

Well, the rebuild RV7A is complete and so I return to building a few parts that I have given buddy so that he can fly this summer... Like the VS.

Yup I just build my second one of these.

You would think it would go a lot quicker, but for some reason that was not really the case. With Priming and de burring all in was about 20 hours. Even though I knew what I was doing this time around and didn't have to think about it to much... So for those of you that have stated they can build a whole empennage in a weekend. I wonder how much de burring is included in that.

Or I am simply very slow.

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#60

While rebuilding the the other plane I got to fast forward quite a bit into cable, connectors and avionics. Gave me a lot to think about. I had been trying to not do that because buying avionics early is kind of silly...But they are so much fun!

Anyway. We replaced a few connectors and while doing so I got to try out a few different kinds and that was great because I know what I like and what I do not like.

I like the DEUTSCH series connectors. They feel nice and are good to work with.
But at some point we had to figure out how to attach them to the air-frame so they don't move around. Double sided tape will do the trick but since I build this 80$ china 3D printer I had to put that use. I have never designed any parts. So this is my first try.

I am printing ABS and use the "raft" to stabilize the print. In this case the raft takes longer to print then the part but it does work well.
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First print in coarse quality. The holes are to attache with pop rivets to a rib or similar structure.
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With the connector attached.
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Fit is very tight. I don't think it is going anywhere.
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fun little 3 hour project. Necessary? probably not but what else am I going to do with this printer? :D
 
#61

Been a while since I made any progress on "MY" RV.

But, a lot has happened:

Remember why we do those "simulated" engine out trainings on our BFR's? Well, I do one every year either for club currency or for the rating and while it is all well it doesn't compare to the real thing! At 250h total time I am a just starting and I know it is a risk but never really thought it would actually happen...

A few weeks ago I was PIC in a friends good old 152. He had to give up his medical for a bit (already has it back) but still wanted to fly so he asked me to fly him around in his plane. He is over twice my age but we have fun sharing one of the best hobbies out there.

It was a hot day, we were close to MTOW and climb was pretty slow. A few minutes later just shy of 2000ft still at WOT the engine sound changed. A quick glance at the gauge: 1500RPM with everything full forward. "OH SH**"

I tried to trouble shoot while getting that adrenaline rush you would expect. Everything happened so quick. I lost about 600ft when I realized I will have to put her down NOW. I was maybe 1000ft-1200ft AGL. Looked left, picked a place and called a mayday and set up for landing. I still had partial power until I shut her down before touch down. I never thought it would happen but it did. I am pretty thankful it was a C152.

So I was just really lucky that nobody got hurt. Happy to be here!
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Nice Job

Glad you all are okay and you had a field to land in. Looks like you did a great job and didn't even tear up the vegetation! Great job. :D
 
Oof! That stinks, but really glad you two are both OK and it looks like the old bird is pretty good too. Any idea what was the cause of loss of power yet?
 
Awesome Landing!

Glad you are OK.

Not much damage to anything, farmer's field; not much damage at all.

Did you have any issue with direction control? Looks like you handled the "soft field" very well!

Best regards,
Mike Bauer
 
Wow, glad to hear you are all good. Great job keeping it together for a nice landing!
 
Way to go!! One of the best instructors I had during the countless semi-annual checkrides I had to take told me - it doesn?t matter what happened to cause an abnormal or emergency situation or what procedure you followed - but if you can put the airplane down without injuring anybody or bending any metal, whatever you did was good and acceptable. It is incredibly hard to argue with success, and whatever you did was successful.
 
Nicely done,
Glad to see you followed your training.
Unfortunately many of the fatalities we read about are simple emergencies followed by a stall.
It is very difficult to fight the natural urge to pull the stick/yoke back.
Again well done sir.
 
Bravo!!!

Well done - I often wonder if I would have the same ability to keep calm and fly the airplane. Good job.

Let us know what you find out about what happened.
 
Thanks

Thanks Guy! This happened a few weeks ago and I had to step back and think about stuff for a bit. Didn't fly anything during that time. I went back and made a list of stuff I did well and all the things I was told in basic training that I didn't cover. Or at least I don't remember doing. It's a bit of a blur. The second list was much longer!

Oof!Any idea what was the cause of loss of power yet?
Yes. The carburetor was exchanged and the airplane took off the same field by the mechanic. Looks like the carb wasn't supplying enough fuel to the engine.

Did you have any issue with direction control?
Do you mean keeping it straight on the field? it was quite the bumpy ride on the field but I applied some brakes after touch down. One of the things I probably shouldn't have done.

Nicely done,
Glad to see you followed your training.
Unfortunately many of the fatalities we read about are simple emergencies followed by a stall.
It is very difficult to fight the natural urge to pull the stick/yoke back.
Again well done sir.
You really nailed it on this one. I kid you not. On the "Base to final" turn I heard the stall warning go off, while I pushed the yoke forward "whatever you do, do not let her stall!" was on my mind and I was terrified. I think the stall warning in the Cessna still has a margin but that must be much smaller in a bank.
 
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#62

Well, I did say "a lot has happened"

After my excitement with the Cessna we were actually getting ready for first flight of my buddies RV-7A that I spend almost a year working on. New tail feathers, Canopy, complete FWF with new engine, new paint and a lot of cable replacement to get those shiny G3X touch displays to work properly. I had a lot of fun. I know it will help me when I get to that stage with my own RV. Second time is always easier!

As you can image the past event only added to the pressure that come with first flight of a home build airplane. We actually cancelled the first flight 3 times before it finally happened on 9th of June. Flight was uneventful with only minor squawks. We have about 18h and counting by now. Oil consumption is much lower than anticipated. She only used 1qt in the first 15 hours. We will change to regular oil after 25h.

This is a mostly stock RV7-A with VAN's IO360 with CS with a full Garmin G3X panel.

Final assembly at the airport
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She flies!
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On final
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Landing
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Panel
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The RV GRINN is pretty permanent for all of is. These are truly amazing airplanes.
 
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#63

Back to my own bird...Honestly while I now know how to build tail feathers, I can't say that it goes much faster then the first time around. De burring and priming prep takes forever and I was actually somehow more prone to mistakes than the first time. Managed to get a slight dent into the bottom skin of my new HS. It's not bad but it sure bothered me for a while. Anyway, here it is:

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All done... (minus fiberglass) Now on to the rudder and I will be back on track with the wings.
 
#64

Sometimes at bed time when it would be to late to start anything else I tinker with some electrical projects.

I have read a bunch about the standard Flap motor not being "perfect"
During the rebuild of the other RV7A with G3X system the flap position was missing. So I added with a ray allen position sensor. It also had the "Flap Positioning System" by show planes.

Motor
Sensor mounted to the motor
Potentiometer mounted to the motor

This kicked of this idea. There is got the be a simpler way.
What I came up with is a motor that has it's own potentiometer inside.
Then I got a arduino board to play with and after about 3 months I got the first beta version that does everything I want it to do.

My system mounted to a board
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I had originally copied the switch that all the other systems use but then changed my mind to a rotary knob.

From this:
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To this:
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I made another version but I havent decided on the final one. (these are rough prints from the 3d printer. I would like to get the final one made out of Aluminum CNC.
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I also have some LEDs. they are on the board now for testing but I want them to be mounted next to each position of the flap switch
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---

Then I added a GPS and that lead to a few new possibilities.

I was able to set up an over speed protection on the flaps.

I also included a wig wag module. This is also driven by the GPS.

Now the last piece of the puzzle was to make an output that the garmin g3x systems can read. (I suspect others would work too) I borrowed the gea24 and a g3x display from a friend to do this test.
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Works like a charm
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So far I have only tested the system in the car while driving and it performs great there.
 
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Thanks!

I really like the "rotary" flap switch! I am in on that!

Yes, I really don't know why so view people are using them. Anything I am not thinking of?

I know Cirrus ad Aquila both have pretty much the same design although with only 0?/ 15?/ 30?.

But all my RV friends at the field like the other switch better. Maybe its because they like what "everyone" is using. I think I will stick with the rotary.

btw. witch of the printed switch heads do you prefer?
 
btw. witch of the printed switch heads do you prefer?

I like the asymmetrical as well.

Although I would like to know its overall length, it seems long but just another guy's opinion... maybe a coin for perspective.
 
may be true...

I like the asymmetrical as well.

Although I would like to know its overall length, it seems long but just another guy's opinion... maybe a coin for perspective.

It about 1,75in long. And you are probably right, may be a bit large. It feels good in the hand. I will probably wait until I have a panel to decide on the final dimension.
 
I wonder if anyone has taken the method used for some car window motors. On Toyota's the window motor shuts off when the running amperage goes up,IE when the window gets to the end of it's travel, in that instant the amperage jumps. The switch has a sensor that sees that increase and cuts the power.
 
I wonder if anyone has taken the method used for some car window motors. On Toyota's the window motor shuts off when the running amperage goes up,IE when the window gets to the end of it's travel, in that instant the amperage jumps. The switch has a sensor that sees that increase and cuts the power.

Not sure this would this would work as good here. The drag and therefore the work the motor has to do increases with the angle of flaps deployed. In any case this would only be useful for full up and full down.

In this case the motor has an internal stop so it doesn't use any power once it hits that stop.
 
#65

OMG! It has been forever since I updated this thread. When I started reading about people building airplanes the phrase "life got in the way" came up frequently. I often wondered what could be so important that building one of these birds would take 10 years. I have to admit it just happens, even to me. I put my own bird on hold. Gave away parts that I had to rebuild later. And 1 year later I caught up to the point where I left of.

So here is the second RV7 rudder of my building career. Man I have kicked my self over and over again because like any good builder I saw this as an opportunity to do better than the first time around. Guess what? I failed at that. Number one was much better and I have been really hating that fact. the leading edge bend just didn't turn out as nicely as I had envisioned. I will have to live with that.

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I also have to get creative since I am running low on space in the barn...

I set out to work on the small stuff first. Flaps and Ailerons!
 
#66

On a more positive note after I finished agonizing about the rudder I moved on to the ailerons.

Yeah! they are really easy to build and came out super straight with not twist! Very happy with that.

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#67

I just unpacked the Left Wing Spar for the first time. WOW they are beautiful just sitting there in gold!

I have to move a lot of things around to make this fit. Looks like my priming booth is going to have go elsewhere.

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#68

Following up on post from last year. I finished the Flap / Wig Wag Controller.

It is much nicer now. It took forever but I feel like it is ready to test in the real thing. So far it has been my daily passenger in the car. Pretty good way to check GPS speeds and such. YES, YES, I know I wish my car had wings too.

Since I wasn't sure what switch I like best I designed it in a way that it can connect to both a rotary switch or a Momentary UP/DWN switch. Works great.

I also have integrated panel position lights. That will give me an visible position of the Flap position selected. That is especially useful for the Mom Sw.

I wish my airplane was flying so I could try this out today... Guess I'll have to find a curious fellow RV flyer.

What does it do?
-Reads GPS grounds Speed.
-Over set speed the landing lights will WIG WAG
-Under set speed the landing lights will go steady ON
-Over max flap speed the deploying flaps will not work, but the will come up if you choose so
-Under max flap speed deploying flaps will work normally
-If GPS signal is faulty, unstable or not available the systems deactivates and Landing lights go steady on and flap deployment is available at all speeds
-It will read the flap position and give it out in a format that the G3X system will read, eliminating the need for another pos sensor.
(I assume it works on Dynon as well but I have only had a G3X to test)


Specs:
-System uses 0,09A at 13.5V = 1.2W
-System weighs 0.25lbs / 113g
-2x DSBUB 25 Pin (I used 2 pins per wire for the high Power items)
-There is a hookup for an external GPS antenna in case I want to mount this under the floor board next to the flap motor. So that should not be an issue.
-I will need a box but my "el cheapo" china 3d printer doesn't print any nice quality stuff. It's really just good for prototyping. ideas?
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Nicely done. I love this stuff. Building airplanes is just an excuse for developing new avionics widgets.

V
 
I get that some people in this community want to roll their own which is great. If you don't want to roll your own, all the features you've listed and more are available in the VP-X. :)
 
Check out Fusion 360 by Autocad. They have some tutorials on how to make an enclosure around small electronic devices, like raspberry pi. I have an Ultimaker 2+ and a Form2. If you have an enclosure, I'd be happy to print it for you.

Jeff
 
Thanks for the offer :)

Check out Fusion 360 by Autocad. They have some tutorials on how to make an enclosure around small electronic devices, like raspberry pi. I have an Ultimaker 2+ and a Form2. If you have an enclosure, I'd be happy to print it for you.

Jeff

Hey Jeff. Thank you! I will look into that. I have an Anet A8 but you get what you pay for... and 80$ including shipping...Well I am happy that it prints at all.

Is there a free version of the fusion? I have been using Vectorworks at the my university computer lab to do stuff but I can only do pretty basic stuff. Then I throw it into cura and print with the Anet. But I could try to design a case and print a rough version and if it fits I can get back to you for a clean print.
 
Hey Jeff. Thank you! I will look into that. I have an Anet A8 but you get what you pay for... and 80$ including shipping...Well I am happy that it prints at all.

Is there a free version of the fusion? I have been using Vectorworks at the my university computer lab to do stuff but I can only do pretty basic stuff. Then I throw it into cura and print with the Anet. But I could try to design a case and print a rough version and if it fits I can get back to you for a clean print.

Yes. Free for up to a year for qualified folks. Essentially, not using it for commercial porpuses. It's very granular but has extensive tutorials, which are great. Lots of You-tube help, too. I would check out their website.

I have a free one-year educational subscription. If you like learning this nerdy stuff, which I think you do, I think you will really like it.
 
Following up on post from last year. I finished the Flap / Wig Wag Controller.

It is much nicer now. It took forever but I feel like it is ready to test in the real thing. So far it has been my daily passenger in the car. Pretty good way to check GPS speeds and such. YES, YES, I know I wish my car had wings too.

Since I wasn't sure what switch I like best I designed it in a way that it can connect to both a rotary switch or a Momentary UP/DWN switch. Works great.

I also have integrated panel position lights. That will give me an visible position of the Flap position selected. That is especially useful for the Mom Sw.

I wish my airplane was flying so I could try this out today... Guess I'll have to find a curious fellow RV flyer.

What does it do?
-Reads GPS grounds Speed.
-Over set speed the landing lights will WIG WAG
-Under set speed the landing lights will go steady ON
-Over max flap speed the deploying flaps will not work, but the will come up if you choose so
-Under max flap speed deploying flaps will work normally
-If GPS signal is faulty, unstable or not available the systems deactivates and Landing lights go steady on and flap deployment is available at all speeds
-It will read the flap position and give it out in a format that the G3X system will read, eliminating the need for another pos sensor.
(I assume it works on Dynon as well but I have only had a G3X to test)


Specs:
-System uses 0,09A at 13.5V = 1.2W
-System weighs 0.25lbs / 113g
-2x DSBUB 25 Pin (I used 2 pins per wire for the high Power items)
-There is a hookup for an external GPS antenna in case I want to mount this under the floor board next to the flap motor. So that should not be an issue.
-I will need a box but my "el cheapo" china 3d printer doesn't print any nice quality stuff. It's really just good for prototyping. ideas?
download

I use a qidi tech 1, essentially a dual extruder makerbot II clone. I've upgraded to a borosilicate glass bed and all metal extruders (around $100 total) its really nice. I produce some replacement porsche parts and tooling with it. mostly print abs and tpu.

I use openscad because I like parametric designs, simplify3d to slice.

I really dislike blocking flap deployment on groundspeed. That could cause delayed flap access for a significant amount of airspeed. It would be better to take a serial a/s reading. I know that's possible to pull from grt avionics, pretty much any AHRS should allow that and some "all in one" units should as well.
 
I really dislike blocking flap deployment on groundspeed. That could cause delayed flap access for a significant amount of airspeed. It would be better to take a serial a/s reading. I know that's possible to pull from grt avionics, pretty much any AHRS should allow that and some "all in one" units should as well.

Yes, you are right. Another member was kind enough to point that out via PM already.

I looked into hooking up to the static and getting actual airspeed. Decided I did not want enter the static system.

I have open connection ready for the Avionic direct hook up if I can manage to read it with the Arduino. Based on a few post by other on the topic that is possible. I just haven't messed with it because I don't have a G3x that is flying to play with. I am aware that the GPS may not be ideal. That's what I will have to test to see how good it works.

I have not seen any available options that will work with a rotary swtich. So even if I never use the GPS block it still worth the effort. For the wigwag it really doesn't matter if a head or tailwind may change the speed a bit. IMHO
 
#69

Not much building done lately. But this hobby comes with an addiction to buying tools...Sometimes just because I feel like I "need" them.

This Bosch Blue Saw is the latest n greates in my tool box... Well I kind of wanted to see what she can do. A delight to work with. I am now wondering if I can and should get an aluminum cutting disk for it. Sure would make cutting stock parts a breeze. Did I mention the laser? YAY!

Anyway. Here she is:

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and here is the first thing that got build out of scrap pieced of wood. This is my version of the rib straightener that I found in the forums. It is supposed to make this work much more "enjoyable". Looks like 11? is pretty darn close. I may try 12? to see if that's better or too much. With the saw I can actually just set it to the desired degree and 2 seconds later ...How cool is that ? DONE!

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#70

Ok. Back to building. To be honest I have been ready to start for a bit but the perfect expensive goldish looking spar is kind of intimidating. And the plans are really not holding my hand any more at this point.

So took me a while to actually start. First Cut is the deepest.... So today I spend 4 hours drilling #40 and CSinking the all the wholes of the nutplates that attach the Tanks and acces panels. Hope I didn't already make any mistakes.

I also spend some time taping everything up. Read that on another build log and it seemed like a good idea. Kind of a waste of perfectly good tape but o well.

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Ok. Back to building. To be honest I have been ready to start for a bit but the perfect expensive goldish looking spar is kind of intimidating. And the plans are really not holding my hand any more at this point.

So took me a while to actually start. First Cut is the deepest.... So today I spend 4 hours drilling #40 and CSinking the all the wholes of the nutplates that attach the Tanks and acces panels. Hope I didn't already make any mistakes.

I also spend some time taping everything up. Read that on another build log and it seemed like a good idea. Kind of a waste of perfectly good tape but o well.

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That tape is a very good idea indeed! I was glad I taped right there too.
Amazing how chips can work their way into little crevasses when exposed. Keep on keeping on!
 
#71

Although Not building related but it reminded me what a capable plane I am building. Went up in the other -7A yesterday and did a 4 leg box speed run at 5000ft at full everything. I am a bit disappointed it didn't match the VANS numbers but maybe I need to do it again at 8000ft. 8500? at what alt are the vans numbers done?

Vans Lyc 180HP M1B
Vans Hartzell 72" C/S.
2 People.
5000ft density alt
14?C
2700RPM
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I've always run the 4 headings with no wind correction and used ground speed seen on each heading after it stabilized. Add the 4 GS numbers together and divide by 4.

It is my understanding Vans does their speed numbers at 8000 density altitude.
My RV7 almost exactly matches Vans numbers.

PS it is faster when it is solo with half fuel...
 
I've always run the 4 headings with no wind correction and used ground speed seen on each heading after it stabilized. Add the 4 GS numbers together and divide by 4. .

The NTPS spreadsheet (post 71) is believed to be a highly accurate method.
 
The NTPS spreadsheet (post 71) is believed to be a highly accurate method.

whenever I google how to do this accurately I keep getting back to the NTPS method so who am I do disagree...? It is very easy to use and does all the magic math on its own... I like it!

In this case both the "divide by 4" method and the NTPS method will give the same number. I suppose that is to be expected with a standard deviation of 0,1
I think the nice thing here is that it will tell you the standard deviation and thus tell you if that data sample you collected is good or bad. Also it is nice to know the wind.
 
#72

Seems like no progress but I continued to Countersink all the wholes. They are done now. I had some issues with knife edging and the cage wandering on me with the first 2 #8 screws. I then opted to fabricate a piece of scrap metal and hold it underneath so it would keep the pilot on the countersink from wondering off. First used aluminum like on this picture... then changed to steel. Worked great.

UPDATE: The Plans tell you to rivet the nutplate FIRST and actually use the NUTPLATE as a guide for the #30 pilot countersink.


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#73

Another night session... 4 hours of plate nuts. I think I am slow.
Process was to dab the countsinked wholes with primer via Q-Tip. Then wet rivet the plate nuts in place... I had about 30 min of looking for the #6 plate nuts for the inspection plates. I could only find a few but I had them at inventory... YUP It came to me that I used them for the Empennage Fairings. Luckily I had bought a couple extra from spruce. Just needed to find those little bags....

Pretty Straight Forward. Just one plate nut at the time... I actually managed to screw this up on 2 because I didn't look and actually riveted without the plate nut in the right position... it moved sideways on me go figure. Well. I still know how to drill rivets, thank god!

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Both spars done!
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Seems like no progress but I continued to Countersink all the wholes. They are done now. I had some issues with knife edging and the cage wandering on me with the first 2 #8 screws. I then opted to fabricate a piece of scrap metal and hold it underneath so it would keep the pilot on the countersink from wondering off. First used aluminum like on this picture... then changed to steel. Worked great.

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This seems to crop up pretty regularly.
If you follow the instructions and rivet the nutplates on first, the countersinking for the #8 screws is trivial.
I?m not picking on you :p it just seems like so many people try to cook up a solution to a problem that doesn?t exist. Some are quite elaborate and time consuming! They then post it and everyone thinks that?s how you do it and it becomes self fulfilling.
 
This seems to crop up pretty regularly.
If you follow the instructions and rivet the nutplates on first, the countersinking for the #8 screws is trivial.
I’m not picking on you :p it just seems like so many people try to cook up a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist. Some are quite elaborate and time consuming! They then post it and everyone thinks that’s how you do it and it becomes self fulfilling.

Thank you, and yes you are right.
Maybe I should not be posting this as others may think this is the way to do it. It just is what I ended up doing. I will edit the text above to let future builders know what the VANS way is.
 
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R.I.P Old friend

Life is too short. I have heard it before but every now and then it just hits you.

Earlier this month, I called up my buddy and asked him if he wanted to go fly that sweet RV7 of his. I helped rebuild it, and we have become friends in the process. We go flying sometimes and share that RV grin even in these strange Covid times.

It was a gloomy fall afternoon and the view was kind of hazy. I always get the right seat, but he lets me yank and bank her around as I please. Sometimes I even get to land. “What a sweet airplane”, I thought. On the way back to the airport we talked about our mutual friend and fellow RV Pilot who, at the time was in the hospital with medical issues. These are really terrible times to be stuck in a hospital when people can’t even come visit you. We decided to do a fly-over and did three steep turns right over the building. It was our way of saying hello and wishing him well.

Meanwhile, a few sun rays had made their way through the clouds. It looked quite beautiful.
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Little did we know that our dear friend passed away this very day and us doing circles over the hospital would actually be goodbye for good. Call it coincidence or fate, I sure didn’t see this coming. I had no idea it was this serious. I want to say thank you for the time we shared. I will do it here because there will not be a funeral. There is a chance, we would not have met if he didn’t happen to have an RV. I was new at the airport and was walking through the hangers looking at everyone’s pride and joy. There he was, giving his yellow RV a bath. He also took me up for my first RV ride. The RV was grin permanently installed! I started building shortly thereafter. We started talking, became friends and the rest is history.

Like most of us here I love, live and breathe aviation. But this past week I was reminded that airplanes and specially RV’s are not just toys, flying carpets, time machines, or simply put some of the most kick *** airplanes out and about. They are so much more. They connect like-minded people, create amazing friendships, help us discuss issues, learn from mistakes and become better pilots even when we don’t always agree on everything. Prime wars, LOP vs. ROP and drilling carburetor jets come to mind. But it is all in good fun, no matter if you are dreaming, building, flying or just talking about it.

It also happens to be the only community of friends I have where age is no factor. He was over twice my age and it didn’t matter one bit.

Rest in peace old friend.
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Follow your bliss and enjoy the freedom and beauty of flight.
 
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Moving post

I've always run the 4 headings with no wind correction and used ground speed seen on each heading after it stabilized. Add the 4 GS numbers together and divide by 4.

It is my understanding Vans does their speed numbers at 8000 density altitude.
My RV7 almost exactly matches Vans numbers.

PS it is faster when it is solo with half fuel...

Boyd,
I was moved by your story and photo.
Your photo is worthy of the Van's Calendar.
I urge you to submit it.

Without political input, I think we all need an uplifting story like yours.

Way to go.
Daddyman
 
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