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RV-9A #91894 Bruce Hill

Art is where you see it

...Looks very artsy in the shop :D

Cousin Vlad's right: it looks like a staged display:

"... the horizontal structures convey the artist's perspective on linearity, juxtaposed against cables and blue tapeflowers which concisely contrast construction with entropy.

The piece is grounded by the red tubes, and simultaneously conveys yearning for motion through the diagonal section at the front, up to the clear top, which opens to the viewer..."
 
First engine start!

Another big milestone day. I got the engine started on the airplane. :D

Yesterday I put some avgas in the tanks and got the fuel pump primed, then did a fuel flow check and drained the fuel from the tanks to find the unusable fuel.

I got the engine preoiled this morning, then chocked the wheels, tied it up to my wife's car, and fired it up. There's video of the event on Facebook, so send me a friend request if you want to watch it. For some reason, I kept getting an error in iPhoto when trying to import the video off her iPhone.

After the first run, my Dad took me to lunch and after the engine had cooled down, we did a second run. The engine sounds like it is running well, and the Dynon Skyview EMS page showed that all systems were working properly.

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More photos at the end of my Firewall Forward/Engine photo gallery.
 
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Keep up the motivation Bruce

Your progress is keeping me motivated Bruce. We've had freezing temps and alot of snow this winter like many in the North (just not so much). I plan to get out to the garage today to work on my landing lights (temps in the low 50's). I am gearing toward late April/early May to get my DAR inspection. I mailed off my aircraft registration to OK this morning in preparation for that upcoming DAR inspection. I finally found a hangar to do the final assembly. Now I just have to get the windshield glassed in and get the color coats on the plane and then its moving time.

Hoping to be not far behind you Bruce.
 
Final 1%

I'm really running out of things to do on the project. I had to take out the VP-X unit and have it repaired. There was a bad voltage regulator in the box and I wasn't getting any reading on the pitch/roll/flap servo positions. I got it back today, reinstalled it and everything now checks out fine. Over the weekend I started putting on the forward top skin. I was able to solo rivet all of the center section, but will need to find a helper to shoot the side rivets. Once that is done the canopy goes back on. I have a few more engine runs to perform, drain the fuel and weigh the plane. Then pitot/static/transponder checks and ready for the DAR inspection! I'm also starting the transition training on Friday.

IMG_4978-M.jpg
 
Bruce,
Congratulations upon reaching an exciting time during the build. I have been watching your build as I was building my 7A. It is even more exciting when it comes to flying the first time. I will never forget it. You are almost there.
The plane looks real good.
Dave
 
Weight and Balance

I borrowed scales from BillC and got to work weighing the airplane.

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Here's the result.

IMG_0390-M.jpg


I was hoping to keep it under 1070 and I did! Nice and light on the nose wheel, and pretty good balance between sides.

A few calculations and it looks like bumping the Gross Weight up to 1800 and baggage to 100 pounds will be safely within CG limits in all configurations of passengers, pilot weight, baggage and fuel load.
 
Awesome!

You are getting close now. Keep up the good work. Looks like you will be flying soon.
 
Great job

Now the real fun begins!! Great looking plane Bruce.
Like them Baja LED's too. I'm about ready to pull the trigger the same lights for my 7a. Maybe we will see your plane at Oshkosh this July.
Don
 
Looks great Bruce! I am green with envy:D. Look forward to hearing and seeing pics and video of your first flight. When you are ready! Best of luck and thanks for the motivation.
 
Inspection with DAR scheduled!

Feeling a bit nervous. It's almost like having a child. I think this thing is finally ready to fly! I'll find out on Sunday 4/6 :)

An open invite to any of the locals who want to poke and prod before the inspection, come on over on Saturday and see if you can find anything amiss. I'll be trying to fill out all of the log books and get the paperwork in order.

More transition training scheduled for tomorrow.
 
Bruce, boy would I love to come and check out your plane. While I have been working out of town and not able to work on mine, I have been following your progress. I kept wishing it was me but I am so excited to see hour inspection goes and your first flight.

Best of luck and have a great, life changing experience. When you feel like mountain flying, we would love to have you visit!
 
Looks great! :D The aluminum polish job is fantastic. Here's hoping your first flight is pleasantly uneventful, with a greased landing.
 
Very nice Bruce! I have been in your photo page many times and your attention to detail has really impressed me. Good luck with the flight!
 
Excellent Bruce. Good luck. I'm sure it'll all go smoothly and we'll soon have another bird added to the family.
 
So Bruce,
Did you get anyone over to help you go over your plane? I think that is one of the best ideas I have seen here. The guy that had the inspection party last month - what a great way to make sure you have done everything possible to check things out.

Best of luck on your flight tomorrow - have fun!
 
Inspection tomorrow, first flight some point thereafter. I still have another session of transition training to go. I'm also still trying to figure out my transmit issues with my Dynon COM. I'm down to either the antenna or ground plane. An appointment with the radio shop is forthcoming.

I had Derek, Bill and Pete come by and take a look. We found and fixed several items. I added some torque seal on various bolts/nuts, redid a few zip ties on the EGT/CHT lines, put a thinner washer on an aileron bellcrank bolt to get the required threads showing, opened up the trim wiring hole in the elevator to fix some light binding/scraping on the snap bushing that exits the aft HS spar, and redid some safety wiring.

I was pulling out some of the covers in the cabin for inspection and caught a slight whiff of avgas. Found this! :eek:

IMG_5013-M.jpg


The connections on the fuel filter from EFII aren't that great since you have to tighten down the brass nut to squeeze on the underlying rubber washer/gasket. I obviously didn't have this side tight enough. I'll be switching this out soon to something more secure (and a filter that is cleanable). Any recommendations on better fuel filters?

Paperwork is all done, and logbooks filled out! Wish me luck. I hope to follow up this post with a picture of me holding a pink slip. :)
 
Good luck Bruce! When you find that cleanable filter be sure to let us know. Lots of us have those filters too!

Darin
 
Another RV-9A for the Van's Hobbs meter!

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Inspection went smoothly! No issues. :)

Now on towards the first flight.
 
Attaboy!

Nice work Bruce. From a quality, technology and documentation standpoint you have one of the nicest RV-9A's in existence. (If not of all the models)
 
Congrats

Great job Bruce! Hurry and finish your training, it will be good to get another RV in the air.

See you at the next fly-in, only this time you can fly your own plane!!!

Congrats,

Dan
 
Way to Go!

Looks like a beautiful bird! Love that prop too! Enjoy you first flight when the time comes.
 
Good job Bruce.
The Andair filters are cleanable. They are a stainless mesh screen.
 
Awesome work Bruce! That pre-inspection inspection looks like it really worked out. And I'll have to remember that note about the EFII filter down the road. Now get ye into the air!
 
Congratulations!!

Bruce, big congrats on the AW cert, and good luck with the upcoming flight.

Be safe, but have fun.
 
Congrats Bruce

Congratulations. Add another 9A to the Hobbs meter. I had surgery on my arm today so I will be delayed a little longer on obtaining my airworthiness.
 
Paint it? I don't even have an interior yet! :D

Thanks everyone for the kind words and wishes. I would NOT have gotten this done without VAF and all of the wonderful people here who contribute their knowledge and wisdom.
 
My turn...

Bruce, CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! This is awesome news! You've worked hard and long, and you deserve to take her up and have some fun now. Can't wait to see her first flight. :)
 
New fuel filter

After a bit of a search, I found a suitable fuel filter that would fit in the current location.
IMG_5022-M.jpg

This is a Flow-Ezy 4000 series.

I also ended up taking off the antenna doubler to find a pristine layer of epoxy primer underneath on the interior belly skin. I removed the primer and got a good radio check with the antenna. Don at Deltapop sent me out a new antenna to help with the troubleshooting. Thanks Don! I reinstalled the doubler and antenna and was still able to reach the tower from inside the hangar. I will be pulling it out and doing more radio checks before first flight (maybe Friday -- weather permitting).
 
I also ended up taking off the antenna doubler to find a pristine layer of epoxy primer underneath on the interior belly skin. I removed the primer and got a good radio check with the antenna. Don at Deltapop sent me out a new antenna to help with the troubleshooting. Thanks Don! I reinstalled the doubler and antenna and was still able to reach the tower from inside the hangar. I will be pulling it out and doing more radio checks before first flight (maybe Friday -- weather permitting).

My preference is to remove the paint from under the antenna to provide good bonding to the aircraft skin. Corrosion in the belly is common especially under doublers where moisture can be trapped.

43-13-2B

b. The electrical bonding of the antennas to the aircraft skin of a metal aircraft is best accomplished by direct metal-to-metal contact of the antenna base to the skin.
A resistance of no more than 0.003 ohms between the antenna base plate and skin should be achieved.

NOTE: To achieve this electrical bonding, the aircraft paint in the mounting area will need to be removed and the surface covered with an oxide film
(i.e., aluminum conversion coat) to protect aluminum against corrosion in accordance with MIL-C-5541B.
 
Phase 1 going slowly

I've been having issues with my Dynon COM radio. It likes to cut out on transmit and on certain frequencies it seems completely unreadable. After going through an extensive set of checks on everything - redid the antenna doubler, ground plane, SWR test, multiple antennas, coax rerouting, triple checking all of the Dynon wiring between the COM unit, COM panel and intercom, recalibrating all of the mic gain, squelch and sidetone settings...

I sent the unit back to Dynon.

Got it back this week, put it into the airplane and went flying.

It still is doing the same thing. :mad:

Anyway, after being grounded for over 6 weeks, I went flying this week - radio be damned (I have a handheld as a backup now). I have about 10 hours on the airplane and it seems to be flying great! This is such a wonderful airplane to fly. :)

I did my 10 hour oil change today and can't wait to go fly it some more this holiday weekend. I'll be calling Dynon on Monday and hopefully they will send me a different unit, or have some other troubleshooting tips. I will probably start another thread on the COM radio issues - hopefully the VAF collective will have the answer to fixing the radio issues.

Bruce
 
Hey Bruce,

I was monitoring the tower freq today on my hand held and I heard their comments to you on the radio. I could hear you, but couldn't really tell about the problem that was occurring.

After that I was thinking about problems that could be part of the installation if we assume that Dynon bench tested the radio before sending it back to you then it would seem to be an installation issue. It sounds like you have gone through the antenna path and verified the grounding for the antenna. Is your problem only with the transmit side? It might help if you gave a more complete description of the problem. Someone here might just have an idea.

The radio uses a lot more power while transmitting could you have a power connection (or ground) to the radio that is not solid enough? What about your mic wiring did you check that part?
 
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