Who's Building What?

[Howard Wilson]

Don't do high speed taxi's. Decide you are going to fly and just do it. Looks like a nice bird and it should fly great. Don

Hi Don,
We did a few runs on short wet grass. Got the tail up for a few seconds and then eased off. None of this at full power. You are right, she wants to fly and goofing around too much on the ground could generate an unnecessary result The people that have flown her in the past say she is a sweet flying plane.

 

[Geico266]

Hi Don,
We did a few runs on short wet grass. Got the tail up for a few seconds and then eased off. None of this at full power. You are right, she wants to fly and goofing around too much on the ground could generate an unnecessary result The people that have flown her in the past say she is a sweet flying plane.

High speed taxis are unnessary and dangerous. The risk -v- reward is just not there on a proven design. Fly the damn thing.

 

[bnt83]

Just fixing stuff.

Common problem. I dug all that polyester filler our too. Sanding it all down for a topcoat of real paint.

 

[yakdriver]

Never saw this thread before. I'm making that ugly experience of overhauling an engine turn into an even uglier headache of all new baffles and wiring and engine monitor with all sorts of inputs.....

I've been down for a LOT longer than I figured.

Looks really nice. Nothing better than a nice clean engine compartment. As for wiring , just take one wire and system at a time and it won't take as long as you think. If you haven't run with the P mags yet you'll really like them. I'm doing the test flying of my friend's RV 7 with P mags and they are great. I like how easy they are to time. Don

 

[1600vw]

What I am working on....

 

[yakdriver]

Hi Don,
We did a few runs on short wet grass. Got the tail up for a few seconds and then eased off. None of this at full power. You are right, she wants to fly and goofing around too much on the ground could generate an unnecessary result The people that have flown her in the past say she is a sweet flying plane.

To many nice airplanes have been wrecked doing "high speed taxi's". The most common thing that happens is the airplane lifts off unexpectedly when the pilot isn't prepared for flight. Also the transition from tail up to tail down is the area of least control. I do a fast taxi just to make sure it tracks straight and burn in the brakes if they are new. Also if you have a newly overhauled engine ground runs should be kept to a minimum as you can glaze up the cylinders and the rings won't seat. Don

 

[1600vw]

I like to pop her up into the air maybe 75' then land. Its better then a fast taxi. Just pop her up and put her right back down. In my little EAB on a 4000' strip its easy to do.

Tony

 

[yakdriver]

I like to pop her up into the air maybe 75' then land. Its better then a fast taxi. Just pop her up and put her right back down. In my little EAB on a 4000' strip its easy to do.

Tony

Again, very dangerous on a first flight. Many have run off the end of the runway doing just that. On first flights I take off and climb getting in a position for returning to the field as soon as possible then orbit the field at around 3000' agl. I like to go for 45 min to an hour if everything is going well. Do a little slow flight and a power off stall right before I descend and land. Pull the cowl and go over the airplane very carefully. I usually do that on the first two or three flights before leaving the pattern and exploring the full flight envelope. I NEVER do any kind of high speed low pass or other show off maneuvers on the first flight even though most owners would love to see that. Don

 

[steingar]

I have read it a bad idea to invite spouse/kids/friends/obscure relatives to the first flight of an airplane. Too many things to go wrong/distractions a bad idea etc...

 

[PilotRPI]

This weekend I am building two work tables for my shop, and plumbing the hard air lines for my compressor in the shop. Once all that is ready, time to start an RV7.

Tools - check
Shop - in progress
Wife willing to put up with all this - check

 

[Todd Copeland]

This weekend I am building two work tables for my shop, and plumbing the hard air lines for my compressor in the shop. Once all that is ready, time to start an RV7.

Tools - check
Shop - in progress
Wife willing to put up with all this - check

Good for you. Once you start, try to do something on it every day until it's done. And remember, it's not one big project, it a lot of little ones that build the airplane. Enjoy the process.

 

[yakdriver]

I've got about 5hrs on the RV7 I finished for a friend. I built one for myself in 2008 and sold it last year. Great airplanes. As Todd said, keep at it and do something on it every day even if its just for a 1/2 hour. Did you get the quickbuild? Don

 

[PilotRPI]

The plan is for a slow build, tailwheel, slider.

After I build the tail, I'll decide if I want to go slow or quick. Just got back from home depot with a bunch of wood. Will be nice to have more space to organize all the stuff I've got.

 

[jesse]

I haven't been doing much airplane building this year, but did just finish a jetski rebuild project. I think I learned my lesson about buying "cheap" jetskis that don't run

Ended up pulling the motor, ordering a rebuilt core, swapping accessories, rebuilding the carbs, rebuilding the jetpump, replacing nearly every hose, fixed some electrical issues, etc. Took me about three weeks in my spare time.

 

[txflyer]

I haven't been doing much airplane building this year, but did just finish a jetski rebuild project. I think I learned my lesson about buying "cheap" jetskis that don't run

Ended up pulling the motor, ordering a rebuilt core, swapping accessories, rebuilding the carbs, rebuilding the jetpump, replacing nearly every hose, fixed some electrical issues, etc. Took me about three weeks in my spare time.

When your time becomes a commodity, those projects get really expensive.

I like to start off with solid mechanically sound stuff and maintain it. I'm much better at maintaining things than fixing them.

I was hoping to open this thread up and see someone building a new RV-14 tail dragger. I want to see one of those close up some day. They call it an RV-7 for fat people. I'm not fat, but more room for my height is always good.

 

[jesse]

When your time becomes a commodity, those projects get really expensive.

I like to start off with solid mechanically sound stuff and maintain it. I'm much better at maintaining things than fixing them.

I was hoping to open this thread up and see someone building a new RV-14 tail dragger. I want to see one of those close up some day. They call it an RV-7 for fat people. I'm not fat, but more room for my height is always good.

I'd rather wrench on a project then watch TV or whatever. I really prefer to have a result for the time I invest into something, which this provided.

The nice thing is I paid essentially nothing for the jetski (bought the trailer it was sitting on for cheap) and now I have a LikeNew ski that I know everything about. Probably keep it a year or two, sell it, and buy another toy that needs fixing.

For now I'm kind of maxed out on toys...just can't keep up with maintaining more than I currently own. Although I wouldn't mind finding a cheap old fourwheeler to keep at the hangar. Maybe next year.