Hartstoc
Well Known Member
In my quest to find a good, flying RV-7A to buy(still looking!), I've encountered a disturbing trend among the aircraft that I have looked at or researched as potential candidates, one that I think it is worthy of general discussion here. I'm looking forward to hearing all of your comments and opinions.
I'm talking about Builder's frequent failure to amend the required W&B documentation for their RV's after making major alterations. All are pretty much forced to create an initial document in order to receive a sign-off in the process of obtaining an airworthiness certificate, but no one is there prodding you to make the required logbook entries and amend or replace the W&B after that. RV's are often flown extensively before paint, upholstery, or even wheel fairings are completed, and an amended W&B is in order after such things are done. In my humble opinion, failure to do so is not only a violation of the FAR's fraught with liability for the builder, it is downright unsafe. It may also give the insurance company means to deny a claim relating to an incident that is deemed to be loading-related.
This might be a good place to cite my own qualification to "hold forth" on this topic like Mr. Goodie Twoshoes. I'm a newbie here at VAF, but not to the world of homebuilts. I served on the CAFE Foundation B.o.D. from 1981 to 1999, and as test pilot/author for several of the CAFE Aircraft Performance Reports sponsored by EAA and published in Sport Aviation, including that for the RV-8A.
At CAFE, I served as payload management facilitator during all but one of the ten CAFE 250 and CAFE 400 efficiency races conducted during the 1980's. Fuel burn was the single most important factor in the score for most efficient entry, and we determined THAT by meticulously weighing each aircraft before and after the race on precision scales. In the course of all those events we weighed hundreds of aircraft, and we got used to sometimes needing to give their owners a moment to recover from the shock of learning exactly how much their aircraft actually weighed.
I'll save all the detailed reasons why this whole topic REALLY MATTERS for later in what I hope becomes a fruitful discussion here but, for now, here is my friendly challenge to all: Take a good look at that crumpled, oil-stained piece of paper tucked away somewhere in your airplane and ask yourself if it is really accurate, or if it was even done with appropriate care and accuracy in the first place, and if it might be a good idea to get together with your buddies and obtain access to some really good scale-decks and generate new, dated, signed and accurate Weight and Balance docs for your aircraft. While you are at it, go back and insure that any significant changes you have made to the aircraft were documented by appropriate logbook entries, including these new W&B docs. Once you have done these things, give yourselves a hearty pat on the back.-
Link to good W&B practices:
http://www.lightsportaircraftpilot.com/aircraft_weight_and_balance/FAA-H-8083-1A.pdf
Link to the CAFE APR's:
https://cafe.foundation/v2/research_aprs.php
I'm talking about Builder's frequent failure to amend the required W&B documentation for their RV's after making major alterations. All are pretty much forced to create an initial document in order to receive a sign-off in the process of obtaining an airworthiness certificate, but no one is there prodding you to make the required logbook entries and amend or replace the W&B after that. RV's are often flown extensively before paint, upholstery, or even wheel fairings are completed, and an amended W&B is in order after such things are done. In my humble opinion, failure to do so is not only a violation of the FAR's fraught with liability for the builder, it is downright unsafe. It may also give the insurance company means to deny a claim relating to an incident that is deemed to be loading-related.
This might be a good place to cite my own qualification to "hold forth" on this topic like Mr. Goodie Twoshoes. I'm a newbie here at VAF, but not to the world of homebuilts. I served on the CAFE Foundation B.o.D. from 1981 to 1999, and as test pilot/author for several of the CAFE Aircraft Performance Reports sponsored by EAA and published in Sport Aviation, including that for the RV-8A.
At CAFE, I served as payload management facilitator during all but one of the ten CAFE 250 and CAFE 400 efficiency races conducted during the 1980's. Fuel burn was the single most important factor in the score for most efficient entry, and we determined THAT by meticulously weighing each aircraft before and after the race on precision scales. In the course of all those events we weighed hundreds of aircraft, and we got used to sometimes needing to give their owners a moment to recover from the shock of learning exactly how much their aircraft actually weighed.
I'll save all the detailed reasons why this whole topic REALLY MATTERS for later in what I hope becomes a fruitful discussion here but, for now, here is my friendly challenge to all: Take a good look at that crumpled, oil-stained piece of paper tucked away somewhere in your airplane and ask yourself if it is really accurate, or if it was even done with appropriate care and accuracy in the first place, and if it might be a good idea to get together with your buddies and obtain access to some really good scale-decks and generate new, dated, signed and accurate Weight and Balance docs for your aircraft. While you are at it, go back and insure that any significant changes you have made to the aircraft were documented by appropriate logbook entries, including these new W&B docs. Once you have done these things, give yourselves a hearty pat on the back.-
Link to good W&B practices:
http://www.lightsportaircraftpilot.com/aircraft_weight_and_balance/FAA-H-8083-1A.pdf
Link to the CAFE APR's:
https://cafe.foundation/v2/research_aprs.php