Going nearly 250 mph in an RV8 isn't for everybody. But Dick Martin of Green Bay has some tips even for casual builders.

Dick Martin holds a jig he made out of angle and wood to allow a Smart Level to make a more precise measurement of the wing alignment during installation.

On Saturday March 11, Dick Martin was the guest speaker at the quarterly meeting of the Minnesota Wing of Van's Air Force. He built his RV8 in 1997 and has been tweaking it ever since. He races in the AirVenture cup race each year. Following are some highlights of ways he grabs a little extra velocity.

"Light airplanes go faster than heavy ones, so it’s a combination of disease and religion. I’ll do the whole damned thing over again just to save a pound on a piece. You can’t keep it light enough," he says.

His bird is equipped with an IO-390, 10 pounds heavier than a 360, but he uses an Aero Composites fiber carbon prop, which is about 15 pounds lighter. That eliminated the weight and balance problem of putting in a 390 with an extended hub. The Holy Cowl gave him a 10 mph increase over the stock Van’s cow

IT'S THE PLENUM.

He also has multiple, interchangeable cooling plenums. "Every quarter inch smaller produces a 1 knot increase in speed. The most important part is the plenum chamber. It’s the real key to that success and yields the most performance. The cowl is secondary," he says

But what about if you're just a 'stock' builder, not a racer, are these things the average builder should consider? “Do you want to go fast?” he asks. "It’s a no brainer. Don’t have Van’s ship you their cowl, buy this other one instead. It’s free speed."

And all the controls have to be perfect. Martin acknowledged he wasn't "here to knock Van's," but he had strong opinions on the "rudimentary" process for installing the wings.

"If you don’t get the holes drilled perfectly to the rear spars, you’re going to have an airplane with trim tabs like this forever."

GET THE CONTROLS RIGHT

He says an easy step is to make a holder for a Smart Level to place across the front spar and then spacers under rear. "If you’re a couple thousandths off, you’re going to need trim tabs the faster it goes.". Instead, level the whole airplane. "I took a whole day just to set up, spent a lot of time getting it level. Then I set the device on the wing and raise or lowered the rear spar until I got what I wanted," he said. "I spent a half a day up and down getting it where it was perfect. I was scared to drill it so I went inside for a sandwich, came back out, measured two more times and said “I guess I can’t think of any more reasons not to drill it."

His tip: drill the hole undersized and ream it to size. Don’t drill it to size right away or you’ll get an egg-shaped hole. Don’t ream it to ¼. Start with a .247 and drill it smaller than that. Ream until your bolt has a medium-push fit. Don’t hammer it but you don’t want that thing moving.

"It isn’t important that it be exactly dead center. You try to get it there, and you want edge distance. But if you’re a few thousandths off it won’t make any difference. Use Black and Decker pilot point drill bits. Then ream from there. Regular drill bits will give you an out-of-round hole and you can’t have that."

ELECTRONIC IGNITION

"All the guys who go fast have Lightspeed ignitions. There’s a whole bunch of others out there, but they’Ave all used Lightspeed. He has the best. There is no such thing as a bad start. It starts like your car, especially if you live up north," he says.

Martin says an article in Sport Aviation a few months ago was "an excellent dissertation on the differences Lightspeed has ability to time intensity and duration of the spark so you get what you pay for. All of them will save you at least a gallon of hour in fuel consumption".

Want 3-5 more knots? Martin recommends against the Van's wheel pants design. go with the ones designed by the NASA guys, he says.

What does Van's think about all of this? "The way the airplane comes out is perfect for 99% of the people, but there’s always some people who want to make it a little different and I’m one of them and want to make it a little faster. When nobody is around (at a fly-in). he’ll come over to the airplane, doesn’t say anything, just looks, and says ‘ be careful.’ He doesn’t condone it and I don’t blame him. His airplane is designed at the red lines that has to handle virtually any kind of error or poor flight technique that you can subject an airplane to. There’s more to it than just doing stuff to it. Don’t do anything until you really know what you’re doing," Martin says.

About that Service Bulletin
Should you? Shouldn't you?

As just about everyone knows, Van's has issued a mandatory service bulletin on fuel tanks pick-up tube attachment nuts. Do you have to comply? Debate is, of course, raging online. Debate, however, is always raging online.

DAR Tim Mahoney of St. Cloud, Minn., called the FAA about the issue, according to VAF-MN chief Doug Weiler. "The FAA said you’re responsible to maintain the aircraft in an airworthy condition. If you’re flying an airplane with a known safety deficiency, you’re not complying with the letter of the law," Doug reported.

Mahoney also sought and got clarification from the EAA’s Joe Norris which said, “the mandatory service bulletin issues by kit vendors are not by themselves legally binding. However, other aircraft are required to be operated in a condition for safe operation. The SB must not be ignored. The operator must respond in some fashion . The manner in which this is addressed is up to the builder. Simply following the guidelines are the best way, but they are not legally binding. If you’re confident you can defend your claim that the aircraft is operating in a safe condition, then approach it accordingly.”
ONLINE EXTRA

* How to drill the nut (Yahoogroup)
* Pictures of the fix (Richard Glick)
* The service bulletin (Van's)
* What it all means (Vans Air Force thread)
*It's easy (Matronics Forum)

RVAtor out

Folks should be getting their copies if they haven't already. A few articles have sparked some interest. One on static runs is posted online (Files section of Yahoogroup).
Online Extra
Mike Hoover's static run through the 705 (Photos)

Another talked about getting the Whelen strobe wires out to the tail. That article is also posted and I stole a peak at Jim Lenzmeier's RV-6 and his picture looks clearer.

Out the side of the VS spar.

And into the rudder

There was also a fascinating Ken Scott article on RV building and flying partnerships. It's a concept I'd like to see explored more.
Online Reference
* RV Pilot Podcast

RV BUILDERS FAMILY REUNION AT OSHKOSH SCHEDULED
As a natural offshoot of the highly successful RV Builders Barbecue in 2005 and 2003, we're expanding our Oshkosh fun this year to include a section for RV builders at Camp Scholler, the campground for fly-in enthusiasts. Working with the EAA, we're planning to stake out an area near the West End of the campground (12th Street between Lindbergh and Elm, same as last year), for RV builders (and wannabees) who want to reserve a spot and -- more importantly -- camp alongside other RV builders. (Read more)

ARCHIVES

See a list of previous RV Builder Hotlines organized by date and subject. (Go)

Hot threads online • PMags and Emags A really informative thread on the Matronics list started with this message. Got a little squirly, but very helpful information. This thread also provided good information. (Matronics) • Minimum Altitude to return to airport It isn't exactly the primer war, but given enough time, it could be. (Matronics) • Personal Property Tax Pay it. Fight it. It ain't going away anytime soon. (VAF) • Control Linkage Why does the clevis yoke calls out a castle nut and cotter pin while the rest of the linkage system only specifies nylok’s?(Yahoogroup)

CLASSIFIEDS

Flying RV7 wanted for purchase!! Prefer Garmin 430, autopilot, basic IFR, but will look at all offers! VFR airplane is not out of the question. Please email right away at kitplanecrafters@cox.net, toddwiechman@hotmail.com or call 316-210-5670. Prefer the phone call! Ask for Todd. If you know of anybody thinking of selling, call me right away with their information!