Love At First Sight

Jaybird180 said:
You mean it's not on the RV-8 cleanup checklist 'flaps up'...you know the one where you tie up the taxiway at a busy intersection:rofl:
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You always park an RV with the flaps down. The first time someone sits or steps on one is a flap rebuild and a grounded airplane. I clean the flaps up on roll out and taxi with them up but always park with them down. Don
 
JB1842 said:
I didn't say drinking while flying. But after a hot day showing off the new bird, I bet Jay would love some nice cold beer to cool off with.
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Please visit the FAQ and PoA rules section. Once you say it, you can't correct yourself later. It's forever etched in stone and stamped to your forehead.
 
JB1842 said:
I didn't say drinking while flying. But after a hot day showing off the new bird, I bet Jay would love some nice cold beer to cool off with.
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Beer, yes. Flying during AirVenture, no.

Ironically, the week in OSH is the week we usually fly the LEAST each year. It's just an enormous PIA to get into and out of your campsite, especially with the, um, increasingly elaborate set up we have each year.

Nowadays, we're talking banners, flagpoles, generators, blenders, coffee makers, the list goes on and on. We are NOT roughing it in the North 40. :D
 
Jay Honeck said:
Beer, yes. Flying during AirVenture, no.

Ironically, the week in OSH is the week we usually fly the LEAST each year. It's just an enormous PIA to get into and out of your campsite, especially with the, um, increasingly elaborate set up we have each year.

Nowadays, we're talking banners, flagpoles, generators, blenders, coffee makers, the list goes on and on. We are NOT roughing it in the North 40. :D
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I'm camping by you! Last year I only got to go for one day. I'm already off the whole week this year, and plan to make the most of it.
 
This is what Amelia looked like yesterday. *sniff*

Her insides are torn up, getting new rudder pedals front and back, back throttle, and a gazillion other little tweaks, "as long as we're at it"...

Delivery estimated in 8 days.

ugyty9aq.jpg
 
weirdjim said:
He's got a friend that knows a little bit about tucking antennas inside :yes:
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Jim, you'd have shook your head at an antenna install I helped an Experimental guy sweep for SWR a couple of years ago with the IFR 1500. Both his radio work and his airmanship.

He "found the plans on the Internet" and buried a dipole in his composite frame, that wasn't cut anywhere close to the correct frequency...

... and wondered why no one could ever hear him unless he was well inside 10 miles of towered airports.

:yikes:

The thing was so far off I suggested a dummy load would probably radiate better.

Of course he'd long since finished the aircraft and couldn't change it, as it was completely inaccessible. But at least he now had a good reason for why he'd blown up the finals in two Icom radios back to back.

Not to head down that path the other Experimental thread already covers, but his lack of attention to detail or even asking for help beyond believing some website, made me wonder what other things he had done to his airplane during the build that were equally stupid and equally as buried and not able to be seen.
 
denverpilot said:
Jim, you'd have shook your head at an antenna install I helped an Experimental guy sweep for SWR a couple of years ago with the IFR 1500. Both his radio work and his airmanship.

He "found the plans on the Internet" and buried a dipole in his composite frame, that wasn't cut anywhere close to the correct frequency...

... and wondered why no one could ever hear him unless he was well inside 10 miles of towered airports.

:yikes:

The thing was so far off I suggested a dummy load would probably radiate better.

Of course he'd long since finished the aircraft and couldn't change it, as it was completely inaccessible. But at least he now had a good reason for why he'd blown up the finals in two Icom radios back to back.

Not to head down that path the other Experimental thread already covers, but his lack of attention to detail or even asking for help beyond believing some website, made me wonder what other things he had done to his airplane during the build that were equally stupid and equally as buried and not able to be seen.
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And that, in a nutshell, is why you hire a guy like our RV Guru, Tom Berge.

I can prebuy a Cherokee probably as well as anyone. After owning two Cherokees, over 15 years, performing owner-assisted annuals, you become pretty familiar with them.

Homebuilts are a whole 'nother animal. The builder can do ANYTHING they want, and you have to know where to look, and for what. Guys like Tom, who have built and evaluated dozens of RVs, can tell at a glance if one has been built correctly.

Once he really digs inside an RV, he's like Sherlock Holmes, practically able to tell you what the builder was eating when he bucked that last rivet.

He's not cheap, but buying the wrong plane can be the most expensive mistake you will ever make. I am lucky to have found him.
 
So when does your transitional training start, Jay? Will it start on the way back from Minnesota or will he spend a few hours training you after delivery? Will it be a few hours or days? What do you think you will require in the way of training? How does that compare to what he thinks you'll require? Is it just a matter of getting acquainted with the flight characteristics and cockpit? Will he officially or unofficially sign you off?

Sorry for the barrage of questions, but I had my heart set on a Grumman Tiger, but this whole process has got me seriously RV curious and RV6's seem to be in my price range.
 
LandSickness said:
So when does your transitional training start, Jay? Will it start on the way back from Minnesota or will he spend a few hours training you after delivery? Will it be a few hours or days? What do you think you will require in the way of training? How does that compare to what he thinks you'll require? Is it just a matter of getting acquainted with the flight characteristics and cockpit? Will he officially or unofficially sign you off?

Sorry for the barrage of questions, but I had my heart set on a Grumman Tiger, but this whole process has got me seriously RV curious and RV6's seem to be in my price range.
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Tom will deliver the plane next week. The plan is to stay here two days, flying alternatively with Mary and me.

He figures we will be good to go in 5 hours or less.

He will officially sign us off, for insurance purposes.
 
Well, it's not all roses. There are always thorns, no?

The alternator that was intermittent on the flight from VT to MN bench tested dead. Luckily, it's an automotive, not aircraft, part.

The DAR doing the annual discovered a mandatory service bulletin on the uptake tubes in the gas tanks has probably not been complied with. (There is nothing in the logbooks, it it was.).

This SB says that the nut securing that tube must be safety wired -- a giant PIA to do, now.

We could ignore it, but...if the thing rotates in flight (as it apparently did on at least one -8) you can "run out of gas" with over 1/3rd of a tank unused.

Unlikely, but I told him to fix it.

Ka-ching!

*sigh* I hate airplanes. :rolleyes: :D
 
Jay Honeck said:
Tom will deliver the plane next week. The plan is to stay here two days, flying alternatively with Mary and me.

He figures we will be good to go in 5 hours or less.

He will officially sign us off, for insurance purposes.
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Are you putting him up in a Holiday Inn Express? :rofl:
 
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
You could fix and sign it off yourself.
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Technically, no. Realistically, yes.

Timewise, out of the question.

As long as he's got the plane apart, I'm having him do this sort of stuff. I won't like the bill, but it will be worth it.

Another example: I had him send one of the autopilot servos back to TruTrack to be rebuilt. It was indicating "Trim up" or "Trim down" all the way back from VT.

The altitude never varied, but it had no "null zone" where it was happy, so it would have driven us crazy. $250, just like that.

Like I said -- I hate airplanes. :rolleyes:
 
Did he remove all of the carpeting and interior panels to modify the rudders or just some of it?

Jay Honeck said:
Technically, no. Realistically, yes.

Timewise, out of the question.

As long as he's got the plane apart, I'm having him do this sort of stuff. I won't like the bill, but it will be worth it.

Another example: I had him send one of the autopilot servos back to TruTrack to be rebuilt. It was indicating "Trim up" or "Trim down" all the way back from VT.

The altitude never varied, but it had no "null zone" where it was happy, so it would have driven us crazy. $250, just like that.

Like I said -- I hate airplanes. :rolleyes:
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Jaybird180 said:
I thought this was "The One".
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It is. But no plane is perfect...until I'm done with it. :D

Most of what we're installing is for Mary. If she wasn't a pilot, I would not be bothering with all the backseat mods.

Everything else is "as long as we're at it". We annualed it today, cuz it was easy to do now, with everything opened up.

We had the autopilot servo rebuilt cuz we had the floor out to do the rudder pedals.

We put the baggage compartment door closer on cuz we were waiting for other parts.

We're doing the front axle cuz it fixes the known RV-8A front gear problems, as long as we're at it.

He replaced the bushing at the bottom of the control stick today cuz he likes it tighter.

He replaced all the Phillips screws in the floor with stainless steel hex-head screws...as long as we were at it.

Now, we're doing the dumb gas tank service bulletin, cuz he's still waiting for the axle and servo to come in.

So, there you go. Its easy to spend money on a new toy, once you get rolling... :rolleyes:
 
jason said:
Why have we still not seen the panel??? :D
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Um, there were quite a few pix of the panel, in that link I posted.

It's got the basic steam gauge 6-pack, but with a wonderful altitude hold TruTrack autopilot slaved to an in-panel Garmin GPS/com.

We are VFR by choice, so that is WAY MORE than what we need. :D
 
I have a saying "It's not yours until you customize it." However I think I may modify to something to indicate that you must experience it stock first. To each his own...and you do own it sir, which is more than I can say.
 
Jay Honeck said:
It is. But no plane is perfect...until I'm done with it. :D

Most of what we're installing is for Mary. If she wasn't a pilot, I would not be bothering with all the backseat mods.

Everything else is "as long as we're at it". We annualed it today, cuz it was easy to do now, with everything opened up.

We had the autopilot servo rebuilt cuz we had the floor out to do the rudder pedals.

We put the baggage compartment door closer on cuz we were waiting for other parts.

We're doing the front axle cuz it fixes the known RV-8A front gear problems, as long as we're at it.

He replaced the bushing at the bottom of the control stick today cuz he likes it tighter.

He replaced all the Phillips screws in the floor with stainless steel hex-head screws...as long as we were at it.

Now, we're doing the dumb gas tank service bulletin, cuz he's still waiting for the axle and servo to come in.

So, there you go. Its easy to spend money on a new toy, once you get rolling... :rolleyes:
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Heh. Let the rationalization BEGIN! :)
 
Jaybird180 said:
I have a saying "It's not yours until you customize it." However I think I may modify to something to indicate that you must experience it stock first. To each his own...and you do own it sir, which is more than I can say.
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Hard to experience it "stock" when it's an experimental. Each one is different!

Besides, if 50% of the pilots couldn't fly it, because the controls were immobile and set in the wrong position, their "experience" wouldn't be very good, would it?
 
Jay Honeck said:
Most of what we're installing is for Mary. If she wasn't a pilot, I would not be bothering with all the backseat mods.
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well, duh. If Mary wasn't a pilot, you wouldn't have the airplane in the first place.

:)



Jay Honeck said:
Everything else is "as long as we're at it". We annualed it today, cuz it was easy to do now, with everything opened up.
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One of the world's most expensive phrases. :D
 
Jay Honeck said:
Hard to experience it "stock" when it's an experimental. Each one is different!

Besides, if 50% of the pilots couldn't fly it, because the controls were immobile and set in the wrong position, their "experience" wouldn't be very good, would it?
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Translation: Stock is the way you bought it.
 
catmandu said:
Two way street, there, you chauvinist pig! :nono:
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Now, now. Retract you claws.

Mary is an equal partner in this endeavor, in the fullest sense. We split stick time 50/50, and that's the way it's been since 1997ish -- whenever she earned her ticket.

What I said is 100% true. Were she not a pilot, I would not have bothered with the back seat controls or the rudder pedal mods. If I was not a pilot, same same -- although it is extremely doubtful that we would have purchased this style airplane without me wanting it.
 
Jay,
After 12 pages, can you please post a link to your photos? I'm to lazy to look back through all of the pages.
 
Jay Honeck said:
Now, now. Retract you claws.

Mary is an equal partner in this endeavor, in the fullest sense. We split stick time 50/50, and that's the way it's been since 1997ish -- whenever she earned her ticket.

What I said is 100% true. Were she not a pilot, I would not have bothered with the back seat controls or the rudder pedal mods. If I was not a pilot, same same -- although it is extremely doubtful that we would have purchased this style airplane without me wanting it.
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I think it was about the back seat part.
 
Jay Honeck said:
Now, now. Retract you claws.
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Just bustin' some testicles, friend I have not met. I catch myself making the same verbal mistake regarding my wife, who out-hours me ten fold, but is not my equal (no ASEL) and thus gets a lot of passenger time when we fly together. Gotta fix that for her (the no ASEL thing) one of these days, seeing the instruction would be free and all . . .
 
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