Tailwheel Upgraded and Powdercoated

The tailwheel section has finally been completed. We had a local shop cover the parts with a black powder coat and I ditched the draggy springs for the new RV Rocket Steering Link.
 www.flyboyaccessories.com 

The Wheel Pants

The wheel pants and fairings re-installed. Sweet!

I will paint them and the aircraft in the near future..

A shot of the pants after spraying the final layer of high build primer.

My good buddy Jeff is applying a coat of epoxy primer as the first layer.

Here are the pieces after many hours of fitting,trimming, and sanding with 80 grit.

The process:

1) Trim and Fit

2) Sand with 80 grit

3) Apply a layer of epoxy resin, with acetone mixed in, to help fill pinholes.

4) Sand again with 80 grit

5) Apply Epoxy primer, then first layer of high build primer

6)Sand with 180 grit

7) Apply final layer of high build primer

8) In the future... Sand again, prime, seal, and paint. Ugh!

Featured in the Smithsonian Air and Space Magazine!

My RV Grin!

A Special Thank You goes out to Everyone that had a helping hand in the project!

The First Flight!

Taxi Test Complete!

 A short taxi, down the runway, was completed to verify and test a few unknowns....
1) Broke in the new brake pads.
2) Checked that the aircraft would track straight.
3) Checked all Flight Instruments,Comm,EIS,and GPS.*Verified that the airspeed would come alive and indicate on the EFIS.
4) Relieve some tension...lol

 Glam shot.  The Go Pro Cam is now mounted for the first flight...
 I will reinstall the wheel pants after a few hrs.

The Plenum was reinstalled and sealed up. (I will have it painted in the near future...)

The FAA Airworthiness Inspection!




Vic Syracuse, Vans Air Force Super Moderator and D.A.R. Extraordinaire, did my FAA Airworthiness inspection. Would you believe it, I Passed! Vic, complimented my craftsmanship and congratulated me on a job well done. As he combed over the aircraft, the only squawk he could find was a loose jam nut on one of the elevator rod end bearings. He made a joke that I must have been testing him, but I quickly thanked him for finding it.  Afterward, we finished the paperwork and I received the Big Ticket! 
Thanks Vic!   Now, Time to prepare for the first flight....

Registration and Data Plate Install

                                            
                                  My inspection is scheduled for the end of the month, wish me luck!
                                                         Time for the finishing details...
                                     
                                                      Special Thanks to Jeff Johnson!
                                Jeff has been an invaluable resource in the final stages of my project.
                                     
                                     I prosealed and blind riveted the data plate to the rear fuselage.
                                              The engravings match all of my FAA Docs.

Tail Wheel Upgrade!

                                 
Here is the new prototype tailwheel that Jeff Johnson fabricated and loaned to me. It looks awesome and what a difference in height clearance! Let me know if your interested in this mod and I'll get Jeff to work up a price.

                                  
                                                             Old and New Comparision.
                                   
                                                                            Vans tailwheel.

The First Start!

The first start went well!  The only minor issue was the mixture being set a little rich and the idle rpm being set a little too low.  We made a few adjustments and everything was ALL GOOD!  Special Thanks to Jeff Johnson, Udo Reif, and Mike DiMarino for their expertise.  Thanks to Chris Fendley, Rob Wilson, Tracey Cooper, and Clint Ivester for the pictures and video.

Cell Phone video of the first start. Thanks CF!

It's Time For The Spark Plugs!

Now, It's getting Exciting! In addition to the plane nearing completion, I've started flying a 200hp CS Cessna 172 "Texas Taildragger".  This should prepare me for my up and coming RV transition training.

Thanks Jeff!

                                     
                                         The spark plugs were torqued to 35.0 ft lbs.

                                            All plugs gapped to .018

 

Calibrating the GRT EIS4000 Float Fuel Level Senders

Make sure you are level. *If you have the GRT EIS4000 you will have to play with the numbers.  There will be some error as the float arm rotates up and down, but from 5gals down, it should be very close.  I will purchase a fuel flow cube soon...

Checking the Fuel System



Test Line returning fuel to the Left Tank. Jumper cables were used to ground the plane to the hangar, via the exhaust pipes. 



Intial fuel testing was done with 10 gals of avgas.  We ran some 3/8 tubing ,with a clear auto fuel filter, from the firewall fitting back to the tanks. Using the electric back up pump, we checked the Left and Right Systems, making sure there were No leaks, No trash, and No air coming in.

*The plane, truck, and fuel hose were all grounded.

                                                
 *Special Thanks to RVer Jeff Johnson for helping me through this phase of the project! 
Jeff helped me trouble shoot a leaky fuel line. Turns out, my left tank to fuel selector line was a hair short.  As a result,  a AN sleeve pulled the flar through ,ruining the fit and drawing air into the line. No wet leak was seen, just a faint fuel smell! This was detected by constant air bubbles in the clear fuel test line. We elected to make a new 3/8 line using 5052 alum tubing. This is much better than the cheap crap Vans supplies you with in the kit.

Next, we made sure the main line from the firewall to the induction servo was clear. Final testing involved the servo to injector spider line. I'm happy to report, All is Good!      - Ready for the First Start!

The Weight and Balance Numbers Are In!

Set Up: RV8 Weighed in Level Flight Attitude with the Canopy closed.
*Aerosport /ECI Titan ,Parallel Valve, IO-375 M1, 195+HP Motor with Oil.
*Hartzell Blended Airfoil CS Prop with a 2 1/2" Saber Prop Extension.
*Vans Landing Gear with Unfinished Wheel Pants and Fairings.
*Sam James Painted Cowl.
*Odyssey Battery on the firewall.
*Full Leather Interior and Carpet.
*Removeable 5 lb Fire Extinguisher mounted to Aft Baggage floor.(Mainly used as solo ballast)
*Approx. 3-5lb ELT mounted in the center, rear half of the fuselage.
*Epoxy Primer on the inside of all components, interior has also been painted.


EMPTY AIRCRAFT
Right Main Wheel-562                                   *Vans Datum 70" Forward of the leading Edge
Left Main Wheel -564                                    *CG Range  (FWD-78.70-86.82 AFT of Datum)
Tail Wheel- 47.4                                                      *Utility Gross-1800(utility cat +4.4/-1.75G)
                                                                                * Aerobatic Gross-1600(+6/-3.0G)  Va-135 range
                    
Unofficial Total Empty Weight -1173.4  

Aileron Boots

View of the left boot

Final Pitot Connections



Vans pitot tube, left wing




View from outboard inspection bay, left wing




View from middle inspection bay, left wing





I used a brass compression fitting to mate the polyethylene to the aluminum tubing. *Thanks to Jeff Johnson for the tip.

Strobe and Position Lights

One of the cool features of the Aeroleds is that the strobes can be synced by simply connecting three wires.



The AeroLed Suntail is a combo strobe/ nav light that can be operated independently.

 


I epoxied a pair of 4-40 nylon acorn nuts, available at any hardware store, to the inside of the rudder fairing. This made attaching the light assembly a snap.
(The metal nuts are being used to support the screws and acorn nuts while the epoxy drys.)