| DONATIONS |
Some
of you have asked if you can donate to the Hotline.
Since its return, I've incurred some ongoing expenses
-- not a lot -- but a few (mailing service, some
software etc.) If you'd like to donate, be my guest.
See the Hotline Benefactors list.
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| FEATURED
STORY |
Rebuilding a damaged RV
It's cool that Van's official newsletter
-- RVator -- is available online for free now, but there's
no effective notification system for knowing it's there.
Thus, this message. The
theme of this issue -- #3 in 2008 -- is rebuilding a damaged
RV. Two articles -- one by Dana Overall whose RV was chewed
up recently by an errant airplane on a ramp and the other
by Scott McDaniels, who bought an RV that needed rebuilding
-- provide a fascinating look at this side of RV building,
the side most folks don't talk about.
However,
be aware that Van's is not providing technical advice
on rebuilding. "We don’t have
the time or resources to analyze each question, determine
if there’s a problem and design a repair
scheme if there is," Ken Scott reports."Since
we cannot usefully deal with individual problems in finished
or damaged airplanes, our best advice is to return the
airplane to the configuration shown on the plans. If this
is not practical, make a
repair that an A&P can sign off as meeting the requirements
of the 'bible', AC43-13. This isn’t recalcitrance
on our part – it’s just the facts of life
in the field of individual airplanes built over many years
by amateur builders." (See
the entire issue)
Related
Link:
RVator
Index (Now updated!)
|
Update: The
Hotline is now RV Builder's Hotline.com
Google has been sporadic at revealing the new RV
Builder's Hotlne's (it points everything to the old Expercraft
site. So you can now just type in rvbuildershotline.com
. This is made possible by the people
who donated this week. By the way, I'll have an automated
subscription fully functional by Saturday evening.
Crash
kills RV-3 pilot in Ottawa
 The
RV-3 crashed while Bruce MacKinnon was doing touch-and-gos . According
to witnesses, when the plane left the ground it stalled and crashed,
said Const. George Silvestri. MacKinnon's first flight in the
RV-3 was July 1, 2006. Medical
issues were quickly ruled out in the crash. Flying was his
life. He lived for it," said his wife Sylvie Lalonde.(Ottawa
Citizen)
Related stories:
Ottawa
pilot lived for his plane; and died in it. (Globe and Mail)
Richard
Jahns killed in New Jersey RV-7 crash
The
Coaster: NJ investigation wraps up
RV
flips on landing in Illinois (VAF
thread)
RVer
finds downed plane (RV-10 List)
James
Clark: Building and flying with friends
 The
South Carolina RV-6 pilot graduated from MIT with degrees in electrical
engineering, computer science, marketing, and finance. It's easy
to see why for some time flying took a back seat to his education.
But even throughout, he had his eyes on the sky. (EAA
Sports Pilot)
Low-end
SVS rising in the ranks
Experimental aircraft builders and owners of all Lancair single-engine
aircraft are buying Chelton systems, as are owners of RV kits,
Velocity, Glassair, and others. The latest customers can buy what
Chelton promotes as "the first and only GPS, Airdata and
attitude heading reference system optimized for reliability."
(FlightGlobal.com)
Related link:
SVT
for G900X (Kitplanes blog)
The
RV-12 Report
 Dave
and Lois Martin’s RV-12 has been undergoing serious work
on the wing and flapperon kit in an Oregon workshop.Sometimes
there are up to five builders working, and many people came early
and left late. On several occasions, two pull-rivet teams were
working simultaneously. (More
from EAA 292)
|
Send
this to a friend.
| CALENDAR
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| OR:
Van's homecoming 2008
August 15-17. Van's has now posted a registration
form for the event. hosted by EAA Chapter 292 in Independence,
OR. Banquet tickets require separate purchase. (More)
Early
request (these are usually ignored but I'll ask anyway):
Would anyone care to write an report and email pictures
if I hold the Hotline for a day or two?
FunPlacesToFly.Com
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| LETTERS
FROM FLYOVER COUNTRY |
WHEN
PASSION DIES
 Most of the hangar doors on my row at South St. Paul
Airport are usually closed. I think I know why. I
think there aren't enough homebuilt airplanes inside
those hangars. I think homebuilders love their planes
and flying more. (More)
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| ACCIDENT
REPORTS |
IL:
Jereseyville. Tues. 7/8. RV-6A flipped on landing.
No injuries (Data
| Registration)
TX:
Valera. Sat 7/6. RV-8 crashed into parking lot, killing
pilot (Data
| Registration) |
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| OSHKOSH
COVERAGE |
RV
Builder's Hotline will be providing coverage of AirVenture
starting on Saturday. Updates will be provided via
Twitter and also on the Letters from Flyover Country
blog. A full RV Hotline will be issued on Saturday.
We
would like other RVers who have access to email, to
email the things you find interesting at Oshkosh to
rvnewsletter@comcast.net.
Can you help? |
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Filling
empennage tips
My technique is not original thinking, it is how layups like this
are done on the original Europa and many other wet layup composite
projects. Using 40 grit sandpaper rough up the inside edge of
the fiberglass tip for about 1/2". make a 1/2" thick
foam rib to fit in the tip opening. using a sanding block sand
a 45 degree bevel around the outside edge of the foam rib. Epoxy
the rib into the tip using five minute epoxy. when cured mix up
some epoxy/flox and fill the trough around the edge of the rib
that was left by sanding off the 45 degree edge. Cover the rib
and flox with peelply and squeege it smooth. Since flox is structural
we have created a nice bonding area around the edge of the foam
rib. After the flox is cured layup a couple layers of 9 oz. glass
on the foam rib. Don't worry about trying to wrap the glass around
the edge of the tip just let it extend straight out. After it
is cured sand it flush with the edge of the tip. Remember peelply
is you friend, use it on all layups. Doing it this way you don't
have to worry about removing the foam rib or doing any interior
layups. (Steve
Eberhart on Rivetbangers.com)
Related thread:
How
much metal needed to bond to in canopy fairing? (VAF)
How
to drill out a rivet
 RV
builder Jack Dueck talks about how to remove a rivet in the latest
Homebuilders Help video from EAA. Many people who try to drill
out a rivet, by the way, forget an important point: put a blocking
bar on the shop head before using a punch to drive out the rivet.
Jack explains. (Watch
video).
Quickly
removing the blue plastic film
For many of us building Standard Kits there are a lot of large parts
of sheet aluminum that need the blue protective film removed before
installing on the current stage of construction. And for many of
us those parts may have been on the shelf waiting for our attention
for months or even years. As time passes the blue film seems to
adhere even harder and becomes more difficult to remove quickly.
I was recently working on my RV7 wings and began removing the plastic
from the main wing skins, tank skins and leading edges. After spending
too much time just to get to the bare aluminum using the fingertip
curling the plastic method I told myself there has to be a better
way. Below I have tried to show my method in pictures. I cut time
removing the film from one side of a wing skin from 45 minutes down
to 10 minutes for BOTH sides. (Assist
Aviation Web site). VOR
antenna mounting
 On
the RV List, Matt Dralle says, "I'm mounting a VOR antenna
on the Vertical Fin and came up with this idea for installation.
I'm thinking maybe adding a .063" plate underneath for added
rigidity. Maybe another under the black antenna mount as well.
Does this seem like a decent way to mount this? Other ideas? (Follow
the thread)
Revised
canopy latch
 My
adjacent builder designed a different, perhaps more traditional,
canopy latch handle for my RV7A. No skin slash. I will post a
couple pictures that are self explanatory. The exterior handle
was fabricated from bar stock and holds a tube that extends through
the skin into the canopy latch bar. The interior handle was designed
from an old, unused Aircraft Spruce throttle control after one
handle was removed to thin it down. If fits nicely against the
exterior skin where the slash would be, and wholly under the side
rail. I skeletonized it a bit to reduce probably an ounce of metal
and make it look a bit more finished. The handle is dark alodined
to match the friction blocks in the orignal handle assembly. I
put some shots of the arrangement in the photo section under CANOPYLATCH,
if interested. (MikeC
on RV Yahoogroup. Membership is required)
RV-10
overhead console
 I
thought I would share some photos of my recently completed overhead
console. I think it came out pretty good. I am still finishing
it up and need to add nut plates to mount the vents, also need
to add access plates etc. I used blue foam as a mold. I shaped
the foam and then taped it on the top. I used tape around the
edges to protect the cabin top. The fillet was done with spackling
compound. I sanded the foam and spackling smooth and then covered
with mold release wax. Yes it took some time but it was not difficult
to do. So... it can be done without buying after market if desired
- no special skills. (Chris
Lucas on RV-10 List)
ARCHIVES |
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a list of previous RV Builder Hotlines organized by
date and subject. (Go) |
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