FEATURED STORY

Pair survive UK RV crash There was unusually intense media coverage of a UK RV crash the other day in which RV builder Bill Knotts, and a friend, crawled away from the wreckage. Perhaps it's because the BBC, which had produced a segment on the 10-year construction project, was all over the crash, which occurred as Bill was on his way home from an aviation conference. Journal Live detailed the rescue efforts. Knott, 73, suffered some back injuries, his passenger was treated and released. Curious terms you UK folks have. One UK newspaper called Knott a "pensioner." I guess that's fancy talk for old geezer. Related links: Kitplanes: Homebuilt Aircraft Safety 1998-2008 ($$)

Giving Dave a ride
Well after a year of playing calendar bingo I was finally able to give a friend from church a ride in the RV-4 today. It took quite a lot of negotiating but we finally did it. I met up with Dave today at Caleveras Airport. He snapped a few pictures of the plane. Quite a few in fact. I patiently waited through all this as the air got hotter and thinner because Dave is a good guy and he’d probably walk through (okay, maybe very near) fire for me. Dave is a fire captain by day and night and on days off he poses as a humble photographer. (More on Rivetbangers)

Transition training in Oregon
When I started my RV6 I had 1,000 hours of flying time in my logbook, IFR, MEI ratings, and checked out in 10 different types of aircraft. I thought no problem; I can fly my RV6 when I get it done. Twelve years later and my plane is near completion, after a couple of high speed taxi’s I came to the realization that I would have to hire someone to fly it for me, or I needed to get some transition training. After some E-mails and phone calls I realized it was going to be difficult to locate someone willing, or able to give me the training I needed in a RV6. (More in the September issue of the Minnesota wing of Van's Air Force Newsletter on Rivetbangers)
From the archives:
Transition training in your RV

Day-tripping
Trip to Gateway
Say, is that a nose gear RV in the rugged backcountry? Shouldn't that be on its back -- the alleged native environment for a nose gear in this situation? Nope. Bob Trumpfheller puts some larger tires on his bird before his trip to Gateway, Colorado. (Read more)
Other day-tripping:
Bob and Ginger's Trip Out West blog

Inside a Van's gauge
For whatever reason, maybe that they're affordable, Van's instrument gauges don't generally get high marks. But AeroElectric Connection's Bob Nuckolls recently took one apart and found there's more value there than you might think. (More)

RV-12 progress
Mauna Kea is one of two huge volcanoes that form the island of Hawaii. Most people who have seen it have only seen the top 13,000’ or so, even though from base to top it is over 33,000’ feet high. It’s just that the bottom 20,000’ are under the surface of the ocean. Even though that huge underwater base is invisible to anyone who doesn’t have a personal submersible, it’s still there, holding everything on top of it up. The RV-12 is a little like that. (More in 4th issue of RVator)
RV-12 Builder Sites:
Marty's RV-12 site
Jerry Greenberg
Tom Benton (5 RV builds!)
Jeffrey Emmick
Alan Gilmore

MERFI's Law
Yeah, the pancakes were great, but I can get those at Bob Evans. No, the real reason you fly in to the MERFI Fly-In is to walk around and see what other people flew in to the Fly-In. That, and see what hides behind the normally closed hangar doors. (More on PapaGolf Chronicles)

Dummy wing spar bolts
When it came time to join the forward and aft sections of the fuselage together at the wing spars with the spacers and bolts, I was a little out of luck because the wing spar bolts come with the wing kit. I reckoned that this connection was temporary for the purpose of drilling the skins and related parts so dummy bolts should suffice.The problem is that the burnished holes in the spars are an exotic size that is not easily matched at a hardware store. Conventional sizes are either too large or too small. However, since I excel at anything "dummy", this is the solution that I came up with that actually worked quite well. I found that generic automotive rubber fuel line fits perfectly inside the smaller holes of the spars. I coupled that with 1/8th inch toggle bolts run through the tubing, fender washers, and wing nuts. This dummy set up mated everything together perfectly, and as a bonus, the rubber left the inside burnished surfaced unmolested and at final assembly my "real" bolts and nuts will be virgin and unstressed.The total cost was less than $5.00 (Myron Nelson on VAF)

Easy way to bleed brakes
Yesterday I had to bleed the brakes on my Skipper... they are standard 6" Cleveland brakes that are (I think) very similar to RV brakes. The setup is plumbed identically, with a single reservoir feeding the copilot master cylinders and then the pilot master cylinders. My A&P gave me this tip: go to your local aviation / farm supply store and buy three things: An old fashioned pump oiler - big with a heavy base that won't tip over; Some clear tubing that tightly fits both the end of the bleeder screw and the pump oiler; The biggest horse syringe they have (no needle); Total cost was under $25. (More on VAF)

Manual aileron trim knob
I decided I didn't like the lever Van's supplied, so today I tried to buy some AL bar stock. I went to a old time machine shop we use for work and ask if he had any for sale or rummage his scrap bins. He said we have no scrap pile, it's all good stuff. I thought "great what's this going to cost?" He was scribbling notes while I described what I needed. Then he said what's it for? Ok, I'm building a airplane, an RV-7. He looked up from his notepad and leaned on the counter and I thought he was going to cry when he said, I've always wanted to build an RV-8. "come on back let's get you some stuff." I spent 30 minutes talking while he loaded me up with various AL sizes. I kept saying that's enough(I only needed a $5 chunk of scrap). Back at the counter, His wife ask about making out an invoice. He said "it's taken care off, he owes me a ride". She said "For all that?" rolled her eyes and walked away. I tried to pay him, but no go...Ride it is! here is my first attempt at a new trim knob for between the seats.(More on Rivetbangers)

How to make a VFR cross country trip tick
I have never been a huge fan of Sectional Charts. I love the info they provide, but the user interface is terrible for a small cockpit. I fly GPS, and while I love the technology, I never completely trust it. I like to have my finger on a map, but I don’t like to have to fold, unfold and refold charts while flying, or snacking, or whatever at 9500 feet. I think I may have found a better solution and it is available to anyone that has a computer, the internet, and a color printer. Caveat here – I ALWAYS have current charts within reach in the cockpit. What I am going to show you how to make is for reference only!!! (Pete Howell in the September issue of RVator.)

PICTURE OF THE WEEK   Bob Trumpfheller posted this image on his Web site (see above). This is the departure end of the runway at Gateway, Colorado. Straight-out departures not recommended.