Listers,
After my initial flight test report of RV-6 N441LP it was down for a week for repairs and modifications and has since resumed flying. This is the latest.
Wing heaviness:
I had a heavy left wing. I squeezed the right aileron to within an inch of its life. This helped but was not enough. I next adjusted the left flap down by one turn of the rod-end bearing. This also helped. Finally I blunted the left aileron, reluctantly, on the advice of Scott McDaniels. I made one pass with a light mallet and a piece of plywood. While I was doing it I couldn't tell I had made anything move but this turned out to be enough. The wings are even now, and in the right light I can tell I moved metal on the left aileron. I now have two funky ailerons; one is an outty and one is an inny. Oh well! This squeezing and blunting business works differently between stiffeners than it does at stiffeners. Fellow listers, please do a better job than I at setting incidence or wing tip angles or something.
Alternator pully rubbing:
I added a bubble that is about 3/8 " from the outside of the cowling to the inside of the bubble. Because of the angles involved, this gives a vertical plane clearance of about 1" from the B&C 60 amp alternator to the bubble. So far there has been no further rubbing but I have only pulled 3 1/2 g's so far. This is on an O-360.
Cowl attachment problem:
I started with hinges at the longitudinal cowl connections and at the lower rear of the bottom cowl and screws and platenuts everywhere else. The hinges at the lower rear of the bottom cowl pulled out. The inside 6 or so rivets pulled through the fiberglass. I don't know what workmanship errors I may have made. I replaced this area with screws and platenuts and it seems fine. If there are further problems I feel like the repairs will be easier also.
Carburetion problem:
I had a bad acceleration stumble from low power settings. Bart LaLonde at Aerosport Power FedExed a different carb to me and it is working fine. Unfortunately this carb is quite different from the first although both are MA4-5's. I had to do modifications to the airbox and control linkages to make it work. This cost me some flying time. I think this carb is an older one.
Aerobatics:
Ok, here comes the good stuff. This thing is a delight to fly sloppy flip-flops in. I have minimal aerobatic experience. Some self-taught loops and spins, mostly in gliders, and some rolls and snap rolls and such in Citabrias. This is a whole different deal. Aerobatics are much easier in this airplane. So far I have done aileron rolls, snap rolls, loops, immelmans, split s's, and cuban eights. This stuff is fun. Contrary to some of what I have read, I have found that there is no tendency to get too fast and the ease of rolling at just about any speed makes many manuveurs much easier. A simple roll in the 6 is about a tenth as hard as the same thing in a Citabria. I know nothing from competition type aerobatics but it is hard for me to imagine something much nicer for fun type, blow off steam stuff. As I said before, 3 1/2 g's is all I have pulled so far.
Performance:
Who knows. I am now more sympathetic to Van's talk about how hard it is to get performance figures. I live in one of the best soaring areas in the world. Consequently it is difficult to find a time when the air is not going up and down from orographic and/or thermal lift and sink. On my second flight I found a cruise speed of 176 knots but have not been able to duplicate that since. What I have found with a slightly underpitched Sensenich 72FM8 prop on an O-360 is an easy cruise speed of 165 knots, just about anytime at most altitudes. My limiting factor is usually engine redline due to the prop. Also the climb performance is a pleasure. Today it was quite rough so I spent a lot of time at 14,500 MSL which was around 18,000 density altitude. Climb performance at that altitude seemed to average around 600 fpm but it is hard to tell because it is changing all the time. It is frustrating to me that I have no way to determine engine power percentage. I use the rule of thumb, add mp to rpm deal but it is not accurate. Can't anyone come up with a computer program to take into account all the stuff in that microscopic Lycoming performance chart?
Overheating:
I had CHT's, on the first few flights, that I was not comfortable with. They never got over 475 but that is higher than I like. This seems to have moderated but I still will climb at 120 knots sometimes and reduce power to keep the CHT's below 450. Mixture seems to have little effect but reducing power has a major effect. Sometimes just reducing power by a couple of inches will give me a "Shock Cooling" warning on my VM-1000 engine monitor. This is in hot country. In cruise, if I am running around 75% power it now runs around 410 or 420 but if I go to 65% or so it will be below 400. The oil temps have always been moderate. In cruise they will run around 190 and maybe 210 in climb. My oil cooler is on the front left baffle.
Heater:
I have the Robbins system; one muff only. Some of you guys must life in cold, cold country. Today, when I was high enough to get sub 40 F temps, I could only stand to crack that baby. It puts out some heat!
Crosswind landings and sightseeing:
I owned a Pacer before. A fine airplane. Honesty requires me to report that the RV-6 is not as good in these areas. I was mistified, a couple of years ago, when I read that a Van's employ liked the RV-6A because he did not have to worry about crosswinds. At the time I thought wow! What's wrong with crosswinds in the RV-6. Well, its not bad, but at my present level of inexperience it is not as good as some other airplanes. Today I landed on Tom Benedict's dirt strip with a crosswind of about 18 knots and had to use the brakes for directional control, something I never had to do in the Pacer at much larger crosswind components. Sightseeing, for obvious reasons is just not as good either. You can't have everything. I'm not sure what the deal is on the crosswinds but part of it seems to be that there is just not quite as much rudder authority.
Taxi visibility:
I was quite frustrated taxiing. S turns were mandatory. I finally used DJ's booster cushion which is about 3/4 inch thick. I found that makes all the difference. Taxiing and landing are much easier but the drawback is the constant headbanging in turbulence. I think my canopy is a little too low.
Electronics:
My yellow tagged Narco Nav 122 glide slope and localizer works. The VOR is 15 degrees off and the audio and on/off switch and marker beacon do not work. The kit RMI Microencoder works magnificently well. So much for yellow tags. I need to do some adjustments on the Navaid Devices autopilot before I decide how it works.
Do not archive due to length way beyond list guidelines.
Larry Pardue Carlsbad, NM
RV-6 N441LP 25 hours