Debrief

Enthusiastically I now consider Operation "RV-10" a success! What started as a project in my garage is now a fully functional and rather capable 4 place aircraft that I will enjoy for the years to come. The entire process is a learning experience and I've made some fantastic friends throughout the process. A lot of blood, sweat and tears (literally) has gone into the production of this aircraft.

The capstone activity for my build was the painting of N10JW.  This was something I didn't want to try and tackle on my own and selected Glo Aircraft Painting to do the chore. Mark and his team worked with me on the design which I based off some pictures of some RV-10s out of Brazil. They were able to replicate the clean lines and put their own touches along with a high level of attention to detail. This included some stenciling, hardware replacement and other features which just brought it up to a show quality level. The end result is nothing less than phenomenal!

Phase I - Flight Testing

On April 12th I completed my 40 hours of Phase I flight testing, allowing me now to operate the plane in a normal manner consistent with a traditionally certified airplane. I was a bit naive with this stage of building thinking I would just start the plane up and go fly for 40 hours.  This wasn't the case and it really was a bit of a struggle, causing me to shift paint to the right by about a month.

I framed my test flights around the EAA Flight Test Manual which has a layout of 18 individual flight plans. This resource was worth the nominal cost and helps first time test pilots such as myself get a bit more comfortable with the process and have a structured approach.  In the end it took me 20 flights to accomplish all the testing outlined in the manual as well as the testing specific to my build and system setup.

On top of the flying I had substantial maintenance activities to attend to. These ranged from system configurations, part replacement to additional fiberglass work. The idea of just jump in and fly with no issues wasn't the case with my build. Working through the bugs and squawks seems to have taken as much time on the ground as I spent flying the plane.  Even today I have a handful of items I'll continue to work through before paint.  None of these are airworthy items, just things I want to deal with at some point.  I guess this is why people say that "the building is never done".

DAR Inspection

As of 2/9/2019, N10JW is a legitimate airplane, complete with it's own Airworthiness certification. Happy to say she successfully passed with no major issues.  The DAR was fantastic throughout the process, fielding the numerous questions I had as well as helping with the completion of all the fun FAA paperwork!

For the actual inspection he gave me to posture of the plane prior to coming out.  Basically access panels removed, empennage fairing with no screws, baggage panels removed, but the engine cowled up.  He spent about 45 mins looking over the plane, we also removed the cowling so he could see the engine. All in all I had 5 or so items he wanted me to double check and made some great suggestions.

We then went back to the heated FBO where he looked at my build log (this site), FAA forms and made all the appropriate entries.  He also walked me through the special airworthiness certificate which now also includes operating limitations. After everything was completed and explained we took the obligatory inspection picture and now I'm clear to fly! (Going to wait till I made a few corrections as well as run through 138 item condition checklist)

Ready for inspection Sir!

After 3 years and 5 months and 1380 hours of actual construction time N10JW is ready for inspection!  It's a bit surreal to be 'completed' with the construction phase and ready for the DAR inspection and forthcoming 1st flight!

The journey will continue - dealing with the inevitable squawks, 40 hours of flight testing and eventual painting. I'm anxious but am looking forward to that over bucking rivets and playing with fiberglass!

Finished Interior & Finish Line Punch List

Finished Interior

Throughout the build I've posted various pictures of the interior during the different stages.  Today I did some of the final placarding and cleaning.  I essentially went with the full interior from Aerosport Products. Their products and service is top notch, they even helped me figure out color scheme and stand behind their products.  Case in point I broke one of the control horns for the rudder trim, they sent me a replacement, no questions asked.

The panel, everything mounted in it and the harnesses were all done by Steinair Inc. Likewise they were immensely helpful working with me on the design and what components to use.  They fielded numerous calls from me on all sorts of questions which really helped with the moderately painful process of getting everything wired up. I've done plenty of system tests and have had zero issues with the harness. I've had issues but it's always been something that I did incorrectly.

Here is a good set of photos taken today...

Punch List

I see the finish line but I'm not there yet.  I'm down to a handful of things, some have to be done before final inspection and a few things can be done while I'm flying.

• Fiberglass Work - I had to revisit some of my previous fiberglass work and essentially make a larger gap between the prop bulkhead and intakes.  That's completed but something I need to do now is move my RamAir intake inlet back a bit.  Where it is now and the width of the prop would cause an issue at full pitch.  Will take a bit of time but not overly worried about doing it.
• Control Cable Bracket - You can see in previous entries what I did to mount the control cables.  Based on my engine runs I wasn't happy with the movement.  It's not really linear and the throttle cable conflicts with the fuel and AC lines.  Following the plans that Larry put out on VAF I'm going to fabricate a new one.  This will move the mixture and throttle to the same side, correcting the hose conflict.  It will also put the cable in the direct position for proper push-and-pull function.
• FWF Work - There are several tasks I need to complete as a result of the primary engine tests.  One is to install the new Oil Cooler that Bill from AirFlow Systems promptly replaced.  I'll need to drop the fuel servo to connect cable bracket I'm going to make and then set all the proper cable throws.  Then it's time to work on my safety wiring skills on both the alternator bracket and propeller hub. I'm also going to figure out a method to cover the firewall mounted shunts with something non-conductive just as a protective measure.
• Weight & Balance - Once all the above is done I will then commission the help of Brian and his guys to get her weighed and see the result of all the extras I bolted on.

That's about it prior to my inspection.  I've already been in contact with the DAR and he's helping me ensure I have the information to have everything ready.  There are several other things that I plan on doing during phase one and prior to paint.  I'm slated for paint in April so my hope is a few months to conduct Phase 1 and wrap up any immediate things I want to do.  A new W&B will be done after paint so if I add a few things here and there then it will all be accounted for then.

• 91.411/413 Tests - These are your altimeter, static and transponder tests.  Because this is an IFR capable traveling machine, I will need these before flying into controlled airspace or filing IFR anywhere. If I can get these done prior to flying I will try, however no one on the field does it and I can't seem to find anyone in the OKC area that will travel out and do these.
• Air-conditioner - You can see my receiver air transitions poking through the top of the bulkhead.  Again working with Bill to get some covers that will slide on the top of these and finish them out a bit.  Additionally I may change up the way I have my air delivery to include a cabin flood vent along with the overhead air.  Additionally I'll need to connect all the lines and charge the system.  I don't plan on doing that however until it warms up.
• Parking Brake - I have a parking brake installed. It's not leaking however I haven't tightened the control cable.  This I'll probably connect and test prior to flying but it's not really a priority until I start parking at random airports.
• Fabricate/Install Gustlock -  Seems there are several systems out there for gust locks.  I've seen Greg's solution a number of times and it's really slick.  I've ordered the pieces so at some point will get this on the plane as my gust lock solution.  I'm going to start just with the rudder lock.
• Wash Exterior - This plane is absolutely filthy!  There is hangar dust on every service of her and she could use a good bath.  I'm not worried about scratches and what not that will get fixed during paint but I guess I would gain a good knot or two with a proper wipe down.

I'm sitting at 1359 hours spent on actual construction activities right now.  With what I have left above to do I'm going to guess I'll be done somewhere around 1400 hours. That's with the quickbuild so if I hadn't done that I would be maybe halfway through.

Fuel & Engine Tests

Really nothing motivates you more than having an almost complete airplane in your hangar.  If I'm not working, doing family stuff or sleeping... and it's decent weather out (anything sub 40 is not decent) then I'm out at the hangar working on the plane.

The idea of testing something I've put together gives me a bit of anxiety.  I've read countless posts and write ups on the various testing and even began to write out my own test plan based on other people's write ups. In my searches I came across the recently released EAA Flight Test Manual. I assumed this took far more man hours to create by experts knowing what they're doing and for $18 you can't go wrong. Not writing a review on the product but can tell you it helped me wrap my head around some things from what I would consider a definitive source. They're also very clear that your testing actually should build upon this base for your specific project.  For example Yaw Damper testing isn't covered.  So if you have that it should be worked in once you know the plane can fly and land safely.

The first two tests they recommend doing is the Fuel and First Engine Start.  I'm going to apologize I don't have pictures detailing much of this process.  During both evolution's I was too focused on the event themselves rather than taking pictures.

Fuel Test 

I was well prepared for this.  I picked up two 5 gallon Jerry cans, weighted each, put 2 gallons of each and then weighted that.  My idea was I would run those two gallons out time it and then extrapolate the results. That would also give me the weight of any fuel left in the tanks.  That was the idea at least.

I set the nose at about 5% nose high.  I've seen pictures of people putting their plane in all sorts of pitches to ensure it runs.  That's probably important for acrobatic tests, I'm going to guess it's not needed on a cross-country machine as it also wasn't suggested in the EAA Test Cards.

With the plane set up and the fuel line disconnected from the mechanical pump I was ready to get to test.  With the bucket and timer set I hit the boost pump.  It kicked on right away and... well nothing.  No gas, didn't seem like any air was running out.. a big flat zero flow.

No gas, is no good so I got to troubleshooting.  Did everything from switching tanks, to checking lines to adding more fuel (throwing off my scientific weight tests).  I ran low pressure air up through the system and confirmed not only was the fuel selector correctly plumbed but there was no type of blockage.  I fiddled with things more having no luck.

I made the assumption that given the low wing nature and that the pump hadn't been run with fuel that it was as they call it 'airlocked'.  I ended up using a shop vac to suck some fuel out from the front.  Put the pump on and walla! Fuel! ummm lots of it.

Because I was turn on and turn off the boost pump at this point I had given up on timing anything.  I also spilled a bit of fuel at the wing root, under the seats, ect... so my weights would have been off anyhow.  I let the pump run on the right tank for a bit, along with the fuel there was an oily mess that I assume was from the pickling of the boost pump.. may or may not have been an issue on the initial priming.

For the other tank I did the timing and ran it for exactly 1 min. Weighted the contents minus the bucket and came up with close to 7 pounds.  Extrapolate that out and it's roughly 60 GPH.  Per the EAA guide they recommend 150% of your max anticipated fuel flow.  The lycoming manual provided some ranges and the max I saw was 28 GPH so I needed to be at least 42 GPH which I was above so I called it good.

Should also not that I had no leaks until I connected it all back up and ran it through to the servo.  I apparently forgot to double check the servo connection so it pissed some fuel out past the nose gear.  Once that was tightened again no leaks and was getting ample fuel pressure.

Now I have to revisit the usable fuel test.  At this point I'll run both tanks dry and measure what's left via volume instead of weight.  I don't anticipate much given others experience with the RV-10.

First Engine Start

After another few weeks of hangar sessions it was time to test the engine for the first time.  Hey at least I know it has fuel! Everything else, not so sure on.  I reached out to my local A&P to get assistance from him and his shop.  I also had some questions I wanted to bounce off of him and as always he was extremely accommodating.  If you ever need a shop in the Oklahoma City area I highly suggest Brian Butler and his guys at Reliable Aircraft Maintenance out at KHSD (Sundance). These guys are the best hands down!

Okay back on track, Brian and his crew looked over the engine and got it ready for the first start.  Unfortunately the starter wouldn't actually spin the bendix. It would extend as it should but then just "click-click-click."

Worked with Brian, walking through things I wired up and how certain parts were connected.  It ended up being the ground I hooked directly up to the Starter on apparently the wrong place. So if someone tells you to hang a ground off a Sky-Tec starter where there's a boot covering the black wire... they're wrong.  You could probably hook it directly up to one of the other holes on the starter but I decided to just bolt this ground directly to a close by engine bolt, away from any arcing danger. So now I have dual engine grounds!

We finally got the prop to start spinning. They ran it through with the bottom plugs to build up oil pressure and that's when the next issue occurred.  My oil cooler actually had a small really hard to see pin hole in it. Called Bill from Airflow Systems and he's sending me a replacement, even offered to do next day.  I declined next day as it's about to get sub 40 which means I'm not working on plane stuff unless it's either inside the plane or homework activities. The leak isn't big and no clue how it happened but in the end Bill stands by all his products and is always great to talk with.  We just threw a connector on the two oil hoses so we could continue with the engine start, minus the oil cooler.

We did a series of three starts actually.  The first start seemed a bit high on the RPMs so he shut it down in about 5 seconds.  Made some throttle adjustments and ran it again, this time I couldn't find the RPM so we instead tested the alternators and looked at what was showing up on the EFIS.  This run was about 30 seconds.  I went into the G3X configuration and changed up the RPM settings and alternator screens for the last run.

The last and longest run was about 3 mins which was the max I wanted to go.  Even though this engine spent time on a test cell I still plan on using ground runs very sparingly.  Engine started great, EFIS engine readings were solid minus RPM (Now know I put the sensor on the wrong part of the mag), Alternator Shunts (Emailed the Garmin folks to validate how it should be set up to see amps, volts were showing correctly but 0 amps).  The most important part was the engine ran, nothing blew up and it was down right amazing to see it all!  Here's a picture of technically the first spin, with the plugs out to build up oil pressure.

Rigging

Happy New Year! It's cold outside which by default makes it a non-build day.  So I thought I would do a quick update on where I'm at with rigging.  This is something I've worked with on and off since I attached the wings but I wasn't particularly happy with it so decided to start from scratch and follow a process.  Should also note the plans come with a very handy table in Section 5 that state the distances in degrees that your surfaces should move. This is handy to ensure you have enough travel.  Here is the order I did everything in:

• Elevator - I started by working the elevator rigging so I could lock pitch in neutral for the rest of the rigging.  Problem encountered was that my control stick was hitting the front panel.  It was just barely hitting since I could put a bit of roll in the controls and it would stop just left or right of center.  Either way I needed to put a bit of a bend in the sticks to allow full movement. Now the controls are all free and clear, with the only obstructions being my legs or crotch.  Once the elevator was set I locked it into neutral via some tape and moved on.
• Flaps - I wanted to ensure my flaps were set correctly even though I previously set them.  Using my digital level I wasn't happy with my angle.  You're looking for a 3 degree reflex on full up position.  This is also when the flaps are even with the bottom of the fuselage.  I think I ended up with about 3.2%.  The difference is so minimal that I doubt it mattered.  Also you'll want to put a bit of upward pressure because in flight the wind will be doing that.  Takes a bit of fiddling but with the VPX you can adjust the stop point rather than tweaking the control arm.
• Ailerons - The Ailerons should be in line with the flaps.  I double checked they were in the neutral position with the template you get from vans.  They were and in fact they were inline with the flaps and fairly close to the wingtip.  The right one was a bit off, not in neutral position but where the control rod connects on the root.  I remember doing this solo and it was hard to get the template in the wing root and adjust the rod.  The solution was to lock the left aileron with a clamp.  Then the right one, ensuring it still in neutral position and then make adjustments on the rod end.
• Rudder - For good measure I'll include connecting up the rudder which really only involves making a set of brackets.  You have some choices from 1" - 2.25".  Not knowing what I really wanted I made a bracket out of aluminium with hole spacing to accommodate 1"- 2".  I decided for me who likes to have full rudder authority that 1.75" was the best spacing.  That allows me to have solid rudder control without having to have the seat pulled all the way forward.

I'm sure you could spend a lot of time trying to get everything within a 1/10th of a degree, or exactly aligned.  Anyone who has ever done a preflight on an aircraft will point out there's a bit of play on these surfaces.  The plane will find it's equilibrium, you just want to help as much as you can to ensure your first flight will be straight and level as possible.  You can always go back and tweak things during Phase 1.