The high-speed taxi debate
It's an issue that is barely on the radar screen for never-ending debates. It's far below primer, fixed pitch vs. constant speed props, taildragger vs. tricycle and Mac vs PC. But it's a great way to get Van going as evidence by his most recent article in the RVator, the official newsletter of Van's Aircraft. This got me wondering: Why do airplane builders perform high-speed taxi tests and is Van right or wrong on this? (More)

Mattituck engine workshop
Teledyne Mattituck hosted an (no charge!!) engine build clinic on January 17, 2009. I made sure to pencil this in on my calendar as I did not want to miss it. John, Mahlon et all were excellent hosts - providing about 40 of us with food, drink and a great day of knowledgeable exposure to what powers our "lighter than air" craft! We watched and somewhat participated in the exercise of taking some raw parts and assembling them into a TMX O-360 powerplant in about a day! Afterward, we toured their facility and got some further demo's from a customer overhauled engine in a test stand. (Ron Walker's pictures and notes)

Revisions to RV-12 plans
If you're going to build an RV-12 -- and I think eventually we all will -- it'd be a good idea to have access to a good printer than handle 11 x 17 paper. More revisions to the original plans have been released by Van's Aircraft.
Revisions:
Pg 21: Flaperone mixture arm assembly
Pg 13: Spar assembly
Pg 15: Attaching the nose ribs
Pg 17: Wing-tip close out
Pg 18: Left flaperon
Pg 22: Rudder pedal support
Pg 29: Instrument panel support
Pg 29: Oil tank braces

Profile: Don Wilkinson
Don, an RV-8 pilot, had 10 children -- nine boys and one daughter. Did he want them to all be pilots? Oh no, says Don. "I told them to be doctors or lawyers. Three of them listened to me. We have two lawyers and one son going to medical school." (Mormon Times)

GAMIjectors: Be kind to your engine while using less fuel
RV builder Howard Walrath has sent along a past article in his EAA chapter's newsletter that might be helpful to you. "After several long cross-country trips in RV-6A N55HW over a 3+ year period, I concluded that I was using more fuel in cruise than I expected, even for a fuel-injected 200 HP Lycoming IO-360A. I also concluded that my singlecylinder EGT gauge (on cylinder #1) was not adequate to let me know what was going on inside the engine. (More)

Dynon cancels AP76 plans
According to a posting on the company's support site, " We will still be releasing firmware version 5.1 for the current product line which adds several improvements to the Autopilot. However, AP76 development is on hold for the foreseeable future." The module was to add "fully coupled approaches – both horizontally and vertically – when connected to a capable NAV radio or GPS. Other modes exclusive to the AP76 include vertical speed, altitude/heading/track/vertical speed pre-select, and other features formerly only found on much more expensive autopilots," the company's literature says.(More)

Tips from the Pros
RV-10 builder Dave Saylor of Aircrafters in Watsonville, Calif., was the presenter at a recent meeting of EAA 393. Among his advice: Don't use tie wraps in place of Adel clamps, use water to leak test your fuel tank; beware of heat affecting your plastic brake lines and the alternator bracket needs to be overbuilt. Read more in the chapter's January newsletter. (More)

Canopy latch knob mod
had this idea a long time ago and finally got around to trying it out this weekend. As many know, the interior latch handle on the -4 moves in what most would agree is the reverse of the expected direction, with forward to unlatch. Many have reversed the design, but this requires some advance planning with regard to the latch rod holes which I failed to do. I'm comfortable with the Van's arrangement, but thought some extra labeling could increase safety. (Steve Zicree on VAF)

How to bend tubing successfully
Here's an article from Tony Bingelis that was reprinted in the new EAA Experimenter online newsletter." Do not be lulled into thinking that simply because 3/8" aluminum fuel lines are rather ductile you can easily form them by hand. You can, of course, but hand formed ends often become flattened and have a poor irregular appearance." You know what's funny about what Tony wrote? I actually have had more success over the years using the spring-type benders than the big tube benders. That's one of the reasons why I asked Dave Parsons to write the definitive (well, other than Tony Bingelis') article on how to use those things. You can find that article on his Web site.

Wingtip hinge install
Bret Smith, following an idea of another builder, is installing his wing tips with hinges rather than screws. He says it'll allow him to take a tip off in a minute rather than 20 or so minutes undoing screws. The idea has gotten some chatter on the RV List and here's Bret's Web site in which he details in the installation with the appropriate pictures.

PICTURE OF THE WEEK   There was, as you may have heard, a big ice storm in the nation this week. This picture from the RV-10 list reminds me of one of the imponderables of aviation. I know hangars are expensive, but how can you treat a good airplane this way?