LATEST FEATURE

Installing the Whelen nav/strobe light in the tail

(October 21 , 2009) --Yes, I know sticking one of the Whelen combination nav/strobe lights in the fiberglass fairing of an RV airplane is not a difficult task. Why has it taken me three years to get it done? It's a long story but the Cliff Note version is it didn't make sense to do it until the electrical system was installed and the fairings finished and expertly crafted. That's my story and, for now, I'm sticking with it.

But there are some lessons to be learned that can save you some time on this task that I'm happy to pass along. For one thing -- and this has more to do with an overall approach to building an RV airplane, it's possible to overthink yourself into mistakes. To be too careful, one might say. (Read more)

E-mailing of the Hotline publication currently suspended
Over the last few weeks, the amount of RV-related news and information not already on Van's Air Force has disappeared. I've got nothing more to pass along; no tips, no pictures, no newsletters, no articles. It's gotten tougher and tougher to fill an issue -- remember, this is a hobby not my job -- and most everything I've found interesting this week I found through the daily glance at Van's Air Force and there's no need to aggregate RV-building material if the only place it's appearing these days is on VAF.

The Hotline doesn't compete with VAF nor did I intend to push out an edition just because I had to. You know that ad where the guy is browsing the Internet and he comes to a screen that says "You have reached the end of the end of the Internet?" That's where we are with RV information.

Everything that could be said about RV building has been said; we're at the point where we're saying it again.

Most of the content on Planet RV now isn't really building information -- which is what the Hotline emphasizes. It's user-generated content; people's flying stories, people's photos, a few tips. And Doug does a great job of sifting through that content and plucking a few things out for VAF's front page. No need for me to repeat that process when user-generated content isn't spread throughout various sites anymore.

Many of the building sites are dormant or -- as in the case of rvproject.com -- gone. The mailing lists are moribund. The bulletin boards -- other than VAF -- are stagnant and mostly uninspiring.

What does this mean for the Hotline's future? We'll see. But for the moment, anyway, there isn't a need for it. The Web site and the vast amount of information therein will remain in place.

In the meantime, Letters From Flyover Country (my blog) is a much better format for passing along RV and aviation-related information than a weekly or bi-weekly aggregant. I hope you'll add it to your RSS feeds.

About the Hotline

The RV Builder's Hotline is a twice-a-month (usually) collection of news and information for people who are building and/or flying the Van's Aircraft models of homebuilt airplanes -- RV3, RV-4, RV-6, RV-7, RV-8, RV-9, RV-10 and RV-12. You'll also find information in aircraft systems, avionics, engines and construction tips and techniques. It is delivered via e-mail without advertising and is also available here on the Web site.  

The Hotline peruses the various online bulletin boards and selects 18 or so of the best threads that provide important information to RV airplane builders. We also search the best of the EAA chapter newsletters each month for articles that pertain to RVs, and we provide original articles profiling RV builders as well as issues critical to the homebuilt airplane market.

You can subscribe to the RV Builder's Hotline simply by selecting the link at the top of the page and entering your e-mail address. Subscription is via a double-opt-in method, by which you confirm your e-mail address. The RV Builder's Hotline does not disclose any e-mail information to third parties.

There are hundreds of pages within this Web site and a treasure of articles and information to help you build your RV-3, RV-4, RV-6, RV-7, RV-8, RV-9, RV-10 and RV-12 airplane. Enjoy your stay and be sure to tell others about the RV Builder's Hotline.