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New RV-12 SLSA Owner

M

mjlaero

I'm New Here
Hello All,

I recently picked up RV-12 N874MJ from Van's Aircraft. My wife and I had a fun time bringing the aircraft back from Aurora State, OR to Pearland, TX. A great experience and the longest cross country I've ever flown. You can see some of the highlights on Tumblr at http://theflyingprof.tumblr.com.

I'd like to have an A&P mechanic familiar with the RV-12 and the Rotax engine to do a thorough inspection of the aircraft, oil and filter change, and any other recommended/required maintenance before the next local flight. I'm hoping with the many RV owners in the Houston area there may be a few A&P mechanics that can work on the RV-12.

I welcome any recommendations.

Thanks
 
Congratulations on your new plane. You will love it. Texas is a big RV state, so you will get a bunch of suggestions and very competent people to do your inspection and teach you about your plane.

Welcome to VAF - great place to be with or without a RV!
 
Welcome back to Texas! I sure enjoyed your photos and narrative of your travels, mostly at places I was familiar with.
 
Welcome to fly an 12

In the Photo is the Wingspar red. Red is not good. You have to check the wing pin and the magnetic switch.

Happy flying

Daniel #120383
44 hrs
 
Congrats on the new purchase. I would suggest you look for a LSA maintenance facility vice one that specializes in Vans aircraft specifically. I believe US Aviation in Denton is supposed to be a very good Rotax facility. I am not sure about the Houston area. The key is that you probably don't want to take it to a standard A&P, even if they have Vans experience if they don't have Rotax experience. There are differences between "traditional" and Rotax engines. There are also differences between how they are supposed to work on and document S-LSA work versus part 23 certified planes. I own a S-LSA and luckily I have a couple really good Rotax folks in Colorado. If you haven't looked at them, there are several good webinars on the EAA site that address care and feeding of the Rotax 912, servicing Rotax engines and also on on proper log book entries for S-LSA's.

Carl
 
Nice trip write-up. What are your overall impressions of the RV-12 after flying that distance?
 
Thank you all for the greetings. To answer a few questions that came up on this post:

1) Carl, thanks for the advice and additional EAA webinar information on the care and feeding of the Rotax engine. I'll be digging in to those sites you identified.
2) To hufise: Yes, that is a the Spar Warning light you see in some of the photos. After refueling at Bakersfield and checking the weather for Blythe and Yuma, AZ we noticed the Spar Warning light was on. We visually verified that the spar pins were engaged and in their normal latched "flight" position. Further investigation revealed that the left hand Spar warning light would extinguish/reset with a slight depress of the spring release button. It remained off after the spring release was returned to its engaged position but a slight upward pressure (more engagement) caused the light to illuminate again. After talking with the folks at Van's it appears the magnetic sensor receiver is slightly out of adjustment now. I hear they are sensitive to the magnetic field and vibration probably caused a change in the relative position of the sensor/receiver.
 
At the Vans Factory

I took this picture while I was at the Vans Factory recently... Had a feeling you would be on these forums, I should have introduced myself after you parked!

10303815_10203815999629975_6150326637790461888_n.jpg
 
Maury,

Could you let me know the route you flew from Aurora to as far as west TX when you picked up your SLSA?

I should be picking up an airplane later this summer and I'm interested in how you planned the route, fuel stops, overnights etc and whether you used FF, ATC, or filed flight plans on all or certain legs. What kind of gph and TAS did you use for planning? I'll be going to the East Coast.

I did see your trip on Vans' Flying Community but I was looking for some specifics and tips as I've been thinking how I might fly the route myself and I'm not familiar with the West Coast.

Nice plane BTW!!

Thanks!
 
I thought I'd post information on my flight last April to pick up my new to me RV-12 from Stonewall, OK, since my route might be an alternative for you. I flew back to La Center, WA (WA29) which is just north of Portland. Depending upon the weather you can fly over the Cascade range or, if the weather is such that the Cascades are obscured by clouds, fly out through the Columbia River Gorge. In my case, on day 1 I flew from Stonewall, OK (3OK0) to Hereford, TX (HRX - fuel stop) across the pan handle of TX to Sandia Airpark, NM (1N1 - fuel stop) then to Gallup, NM (GUP - fuel and RON) The Gallup FBO drove me to a nearby Motel and picked me up the next morning with the only charge being a nominal tie down fee. Day 2 from GUP to Williams, AZ - (CMR - fuel stop) at then to Jean, NV (OL7 - fuel stop), then to Hawthorne, NV (HTH - fuel stop) and on to Lakeview, OR (LKV - fuel and RON). The airport manager had an airport truck to loan me for the drive to and from the motel and also allowed me to hangar my plane w/o charge. Day 3 from LKV to Redmond, OR (RDM - fuel stop) then via The Dalles, OR (DLS) through the Columbia River Gorge due to marginal weather and home. My flight times were about 7 hours per day. From Sandia to Lakeview much of my flight was at 10,500 MSL to stay out of turbulence.

Whatever route you choose, have a safe and fun flight -- the RV-12 is a surprisingly good cross country airplane.

John
 
John,

Thanks for the info. I'll have a good look at the route you took.

Due to Sport Pilot rules 10k MSL is the limit, so I'm not sure about the higher terrain.I looked at the northern route east over the mountains, Idaho etc. Then I looked at the southerly route, CA, AZ, towards TX. Not sure about the July/Aug heat, thermals and dusty winds either, hence the question.

cheers,

Howard
 
Yes there is an exemption to 10 K based on terrain clearance. Not sure what FAA had in mind with 10 K. Maybe the speed limit change at 10 K or the requirement for an altitude reporting transponder.
 
From a safety standpoint, flying a 100 hp engine say at 12,000 to clear mountainous terrain, depending on winds aloft, you have virtually no performance margin to counter a downdraft.

We lose an airplane almost every year attempting to cross the mountain range near Julian VOR in southern California. In this case, there is a warning on the sectional. Westerly winds from 15 to 20 kts can create severe downdrafts in this area. These mountains can be crossed at much lower altitudes, but the downdrafts in this area can take down much higher performance aircraft.

So plan your route carefully (as you appear to be doing).

Regards,

Top Cat...oops! Sorry...I just read your bio...I'll leave this up for other readers.
 
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Tom,

Hey, flying is always a learning experience. Hence, my request to ask for help and advice from those more knowledgeable.

Doing one kind of flying doesn't make you expert at another. I've learned a lot from the folks on this forum and hope to learn more. :)
 
I believe that the 10k + 2k AGL limits are for a Sport Pilot and if you're a Private Pilot or higher, they don't apply. Most of the time I was flying at 10.5K I was east of the Sierra Mt. range with strong westerlies, any lower and I would get into turbulence. Although I have an AP, most of the time I hand flew the RV-12 -- it trims out nicely.

Point taken about wind, high terrain and ridge lines. I've flown in and around the Salmon River country in Idaho and landed at many of the strips there down in the canyons and at Cold Meadows which is over 7k in a 172 --- early morning and light on fuel --- with a thorough checkout by an experienced back country pilot CFII.

TopCat, check out F1rocket post on his 4000 nm cross country.
 
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A fine point, I have a private pilot license, but still must observe the limits of 10k - 2k AGL since I fly with no medical, using my drivers license instead of a medical. I have no clue why that restriction applies, nor why I cannot fly at night any longer.
rv3flier said:
I believe that the 10k + 2k AGL limits are for a Sport Pilot and if you're a Private Pilot or higher, they don't apply. .
Click to expand...
 
Don,

The 10 K limit applies with no medical because the pilot is a PPL exercising LSP privileges when there is no current medical.

Rich
 
I was unclear, I fully understand the rules, but not the reasoning behind them. I am sure no one made any study to determine that suddenly I am dangerous when I decide to fly above 10k, or that without a medical I will crash a lot if I fly at night. I was poking fun at the somewhat silly assumptions sometime made when the LSA stuff came about. For some time we could fly over a 9800 ft peak, as long as we did not exceed 10K, then cooler heads changed the rule to allow us 2k clearance..

RFSchaller said:
Don,

The 10 K limit applies with no medical because the pilot is a PPL exercising LSP privileges when there is no current medical.

Rich
Click to expand...
 
I wonder if the reason, if there is one, for the 10k + 2k AGL limit for those who do not have a current medical, is the expectation that older pilots may be more affected by lack of oxygen (hypoxia) at higher altitudes.
 
10 K is also the speed limit ceiling and the transponder altitude. I doubt they put that much logic into it. :rolleyes:

Rich
 
DonFromTX said:
I was unclear, I fully understand the rules, but not the reasoning behind them. I am sure no one made any study to determine that suddenly I am dangerous when I decide to fly above 10k, or that without a medical I will crash a lot if I fly at night.
Click to expand...
The reason is that there is no reason.

As a SP, flying on a drivers license medical, I can't exceed 10k MSL.

As a PP-G, flying on self-certification medical, I can exceed 10k MSL.

Thus, the 10k MSL limit has nothing to do with the medical.

So what is it? The FAA tells you its about training, but this is circular and self-serving logic! The FAA, after all, wrote the SP regs and the PTS. They decided that SP can add-on Class B/C/D endorsements to their SP. So why not allow an endorsement for exceeding 10k MSL? The FAA clearly wanted to restrict SP to < 10k MSL, but never gave a good reason why, and "training" is just an excuse.

TODR
 
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