Sooner or later, the only thing left to do with an RV project is to go fly, and that’s exactly what we did with our RV-3 project this morning. NX13P (aka Junior for now) took wing for the first time about 0830 Houston time with a nice overcast at 4000 feet and winds behind a cold front adding a few bumps to the air. The flight-test team consisted of me as the test pilot, Louise flying the RV-6 in chase, and a few well-trusted aviation friends to help out. Our neighbor and co-worker Steve Robinson (with a Ph.D. in aeronautical engineering) acted as test director, riding in the right seat with Louise to keep an overall eye on the flight and make sure we stayed on task. Another neighbor, Dave Forster (F-1 builder/flier) acted as the ground chief to make sure that I had finished the checklist and to provide all those miscellaneous ground services like running to get my sunglasses when I was already strapped in. Ernie Butcher was the man with the camera; when we get the shots from him, we’ll post an album. The first flight began at our airpark and ended (as planned) at our neighboring field with a much wider runway. The winds kicked up when we got there, so we elected to leave both planes there until the evening calm set in.

The snapshot (from Dave) is of the post-flight. Ernie had a lot of faith, as the sign was engraved and painted before the actual event.

The airplane flew like a dream. I’m not sure if it flies straight and true hands off, as there aren’t any other places to put your hands in an RV-3 (other  than the controls)! But my initial impression is that it flies like a fabulous RV, feels light and has tremendous power/speed response. In formation to do an ASI check, I could move up or back on Louise almost instantly. Nimble is probably the word I’ll settle on for now. Temperatures and pressures were all unremarkable (CHTs all stayed below 350° – the Mattituck TMXIO might already be broken in!), and no leaks were found when we pulled the cowl after the 30-some minute flight.

There are so many people to thank for this wonderful machine, that there is no doubt I would leave important people out if I tried to make a complete list. But we’d be remiss if we didn’t especially thank Garmin and TruTrak for the chance to help test the G3X panel (I’m looking forward to actually paying attention to something other than the system’s page on subsequent flights) and GX Pilot autopilot (which I haven’t yet engaged). The WhirlWind prop is spectacularly smooth on the Mattituck engine. Van’s Aircraft has a lot of talented people making these kits and providing support (even for the -3) when we had questions (and they have no one who’s built one, except Richard VanGrunsven). All the bits and pieces we have purchased through the many vendors in the RV community have contributed to an airplane that is a pure joy to fly. I have never had a cockpit that fit so well in every way. And the RV community, those who have built -3s and the thousands on VAF who have followed the build and answered our questions along the way, couldn’t be better! Thanks to Doug Reeves for the fabulous resource called Van’s Air Force, and all the folks that populate it.

While I generally write the word “we” when talking about this project, I personally have to say that I couldn’t have had a better partner, for building and for life, than Louise. She’s really ready to honcho the next airplane project should she want, and she probably should do so without my coaching. She’s ready, just needs to get me out of the shop to make it her own. While she wants me to fly the first few hours (engine beak-in is boring I guess), I look forward to watching her lift off in this most personal of flying machines soon.

The RV-3 is one heck of a ride, and the ride is just beginning!

Paul Dye

Location: Marshfield, MA

e-mail address: yooper@alum.mit.edu

This post was submitted by Tim Dawson-Townsend.

Location: Hagerstown, Md

e-mail address: ed.schupp@myactv.net

This post was submitted by Edward Schupp.

Location: Baton Rouge, LA

e-mail address: scout019@msn.com

This post was submitted by Eric Kallio.

N143DJ first flew on August 10, 2011 after nearly 11 1/2 years of slow building. She has an AeroSport Power O-320, a Catto prop, Dynon D-100 EFIS, and D-120 EMS. I want to thank my tech counselors Gale Derosier, Rick Galati, and the late Bob Jude. I also want to thank my flight advisor Bill Jagust, all the people who helped me over the years, and most importantly my wife Donna for all her support, patience, and riveting. Next project: fairings and paint.

Location: Bellefontaine Neighbors, MO

e-mail address: jimbower@hotmail.com

This post was submitted by Jim Bower.

The aircraft is now located at “RV Central” in Forth Worth, Texas. This will serve as the central location for the restoration effort by builders, vendor and RV supporters.

If you want to learn more about the project or would like to volunteer, visit www.RV-1.org. Regular updates will be posted there.

There are about 2000 RV8/8As under construction, so it will probably continue to hold its place as one of, if not the most popular, tandem two-seat kit airplane ever. Well over 3000 kits have have been started, the company says, so new ones should continue to be flying with regularity.

As if 1000 examples of the RV8 were not enough, sometime in November the company expects the 7000th RV overall to fly. Just where the event will happen, nobody knows, as RVs have shipped to 45 different countries, including Texas. We’ll have to wait and see.

For more information, visit Van’s Aircraft.

The company says the benefits can be realized in virtually every phase of flight including initiating rapid descents without the need to reduce power, maneuvering without increasing airspeed, quickly reducing airspeed upon encountering unexpected turbulence and increasing wing loading for a smoother ride in rough air.

The Speed Bra-X kit is $3995, and the installed weight is 9 pounds. It offers power-failure protection, and a lighted on/off switch indicates deployment.

For more information, visit RDD Enterprises.

The difference between the manufacturer’s notice and the FAA’s notice is that one is optional (don’t do it at your own risk), and the other, bearing the FAA’s seal, is mandatory (don’t do it in the time allotted, and your airplane is legally grounded).

Kitbuilt and plansbuilt Experimental aircraft do not come under the FAA’s Airworthiness Directives. However, the prudent manufacturers do issue the occasional service bulletin when a structural problem with the parts they manufacture or the aircraft they designed comes to light.

Van’s Aircraft is particularly good about issuing service bulletins, which is good. And they just issued a major one for the RV-10, which is bad. To date Van’s has issued few service bulletins on this generally well-designed machine. The nosewheel construction change (see earlier blog) is an excellent example of an optional fix, which left “unfixed” will eventually bite the flier. That change came about because of builder feedback to the manufacturer. This new service bulletin addresses damage in a tail F-1010 bulkhead, which is integral in the attachment of the forward spar of the horizontal and vertical stabilizers. Cracks have been found in the 500-hour-old factory demonstrator.

The fix? Two doublers for the suspect bulkhead must be installed within five hours of discovering any cracks. The choice? Owners can ignore the issue (not smart), or if upon inspecting their tail bulkheads they see no cracks, they can opt to re-inspect the area every 25 hours until the next scheduled condition inspection (typically done yearly and known as the Experimental’s annual), at which time the factory recommends that the doublers be installed.

Doesn’t sound too bad until you look at the diagrams in the how-to section. Inspecting the area requires disassembling the tail, removal of the tailcone and its electrical contents including any actuators for the elevator trim, and then drilling out key rivets–about nine steps in the bulletin. To perform the insertion of the doublers one must carefully disassemble the area obscuring the suspect bulkhead–18 steps in all. How long will it take? That’s up to the builder, but an educated guess is a couple of days’ work at a normal pace.

Our airplane is being shot with primer, prepping for its first coat of paint as I type. Oh well. Timing is everything. And, no, I don’t wish we were just now building the tail section (the introductory kit in this airplane). I’ll take a couple days of disassembly and repair time over three and a half years of building any day.

The whole reason VFE exists is to keep you from overstressing the flaps, and mechanics will tell you that it is a shame there isn’t some kind of switch to keep pilots in a hurry to “slow down and go down” from deploying flaps when the aircraft is moving faster than VFE.

Bob Newman, an electrical engineer by trade and an aircraft builder by avocation, and his partner in TCW Technologies, both designers of TCW’s popular Safety-Trim Intelligent Servo Controller, were convinced they could do for flaps operation safety what they had done for electric trim safety.

“The Intelligent Flap Controller is specifically designed for use with Van’s Aircraft series of flap actuators,” says Newman. “The IFC receives switch inputs from either of two flap switches, so you could mount a flaps switch on both the pilot and co-pilot’s sticks. If one goes inop, you’ve got the other. And the IFC resolves any conflicts between the switches automatically. Best of all, it gives pilots of Van’s aircraft a time-out switch so that the flap motor cannot get stuck on and run continuously.”

All of these features are great for eliminating wear and tear on the aircraft’s systems, but it is the airspeed sensing switch that will keep pilots from overstressing their machines, Newman says. The switch, which is identical to the airspeed switch in the Safety-Trim, prevents flap extension above a user-defined speed. “What is great about the switch is that it only prevents extension—if you need to retract flaps, you can still do that,” says Newman. The IFC system is compatible with the Safety-Trim, and can even use the Safety-Trim’s airspeed switch.

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