Category: RV7

Flight #11

5/20/16

Post Flight Times: Engine: 14.7, Total: 17.1

Flight Time: 2.7

Oil Measured 6.75 (HOT) after the flight, but measured 6.0 (COLD) before flight #12.

This flight consisted almost entirely of climb performance testing.

First series of tests were done 2400 RPM and 2nd series of tests were done 2500 RPM.

Climbs were from approximately 2000 to 6500. Stable data was 2500 to 6500.

For each climb test used the trim to set the airspeed. All data was recorded and later entered into a spreadsheet.

Flight Data

Flight Map

Rough numbers:

RPM IAS Alt Start Alt Stop Time Start Time Stop DeltaAlt DeltaTime FPM

2400

122

2503

6082

0:18:38

0:25:03

3579

06:25

558

2400

105

2371

6529

0:30:30

0:35:45

4158

05:15

792

2400

88

2262

6463

0:40:51

0:44:35

4201

03:44

1125

2400

76

2147

6577

0:50:27

0:54:18

4430

03:51

1151

2500

75

2159

6535

1:01:11

1:04:50

4376

03:39

1199

2500

78

2164

6575

1:10:56

1:14:26

4411

03:30

1260

2500

81

2420

6618

1:19:33

1:23:03

4198

03:30

1199

2500

98

2012

6535

1:27:22

1:31:09

4523

03:47

1196

2500

104

2077

6511

1:36:50

1:40:52

4434

04:02

1099

2500

117

2154

6526

1:47:17

1:52:09

4372

04:52

898

2500

123

2167

6547

1:59:05

2:05:13

4380

06:08

714

2500

130

2453

6481

2:13:36

2:21:46

4028

08:10

493

It was evident that there was better performance in the climb at lower altitudes in the beginning of the climb. IAS was taken as an eyeball average of the data mid climb around 4000 feet.

Need to find and record OAT here.

 

Flight #9 – Oil Pressure Gauge – Offscale high

On March 12, 2016, I went to the airport with the intention of doing 3 takeoffs and landings to warm the oil for the engine’s first oil change. Taxi out and runup went fine. Oil pressure in the 50’s during idle and in the 70’s during fast taxi. The first takeoff and landing went fine with oil pressure in the 70’s and 80’s. But during taxi back for the 2nd takeoff, the oil pressure sensor went off scale high very rapidly. I considered shutting down in the runup block, but all other parameters seemed normal so I thought it would be safe to taxi back to the hangar for diagnosis.

During the taxi back to the hangar, the gauge continued to read off scale high. At the hangar, I shut down the engine, and didn’t think to check the gauge before powering off the avionics. I then reapplied power to the avionics with the engine off and noted the gauge had returned to zero.

The Kavlico oil pressure gauge, is a 3-wire device with red, black, and green wires. The red wire is +5V supply from the avionics, the black wire is ground, and the green wire is sensor output. I learned from reading that 0.5 volts out is likely 0 PSI, and 4.5 volts out is likely 150 PSI. Downloading the data showed that when it went off scale high it was reading 154 PSI. This might be an indication the output wire was getting shorted to the +5V.

I disconnected the wiring to the sensor on the firewall forward side and checked all connections for security and/or damage.

0.5 Engine Time, 1.0 Total Time (11.6/13.5 Cumulative)

Wrapping the wings in vinyl

Now 3/4 done with the wings and learning how to wrap better. I bought a rubber roller from the crafts store and that helps to push down and get the adhesive to stick with less chance of scraping the surface.

I tried using a spray polymer wax after finishing the right wing and that seemed to add a nice finish.

Vinyl wrap begins

So I decided to try 3M 1080 vinyl wrap from metrorestyling.com

I decided to wrap from trailing edge to trailing edge so this leaves no seam at the leading edge but means that there will be seam at mid span at the end of the fuel tank since the vinyl rolls are 5 feet wide. Trailing edge to trailing edge is about 94 inches  I started with an 8 by 5 foot piece.

Aircraft Polishing Equipment

I’m just getting started, so don’t take this as recommended. This is just what I was able to pick up locally when I suddenly got the bug to try some polishing:

Griots 6″ random orbit polishing buffer & red foam pad. Since I’m cheap, I put microfiber cloths over the foam pad and used that to help keep the red foam pad from getting filled with polish and super dirty. I washed the first 24 or so cloths that I used in the washing machine. Bob on VAF says I should try TCP mixed with water in a 5 gallon bucket to soak prior to washing. I’m itching to try that, but haven’t found the TCP yet.

IMG_0623

White diamond metal polish. I don’t know if I’m doing a bad thing here using this since it has a “sealant”.

IMG_0622-2

Zwipes microfiber 16″x24″ cloths. These are pretty thin and not very plush, but what I was able to have on hand to start with. Bob on VAF told me the ones on perfect polish are “a MILLION” times better. I’m going to try picking some of those up.

Screen Shot 2016-01-05 at 7.09.14 PM

On order from amazon to try out:Screen Shot 2016-01-05 at 7.12.51 PM

Screen Shot 2016-01-05 at 7.13.23 PMScreen Shot 2016-01-05 at 7.13.11 PM

Griot’s Garage 11115 Micro Fiber Polish Removal Cloth – Set of 3:

Screen Shot 2016-01-05 at 7.17.27 PM

(5-Pack) **SPECIAL SALE** THE RAG COMPANY 16″ x 16″ Eagle Edgeless Orange Professional Korean 70/30 Super Plush 480gsm Microfiber Detailing Towels:

Screen Shot 2016-01-05 at 7.18.46 PM

Here is a quick before and after surface condition shot. This is about 3 minutes of work by hand, using the zwipe cloths and the white diamond polish. I apply a small amount of liquid polish to the metal and rub with the microfiber till the paste turns black. Then wipe off with two successive passes with clean microfiber cloths:

IMG_0624

Not close to mirror finish and not all scratches gone, but pretty good for 3 minutes by hand. It also took off the sharpie which I couldn’t even do with MEK:

IMG_0632

IMG_0633

Other items on order that I want to try out:

(10-Pack) **SPECIAL SALE** THE RAG COMPANY 16″ x 16″ Professional Edgeless 365 GSM Premium 70/30 Blend Microfiber Polishing and Auto Detailing Towels (Royal Blue)

Screen Shot 2016-01-05 at 7.37.42 PM

3″ random orbit buffer:

Screen Shot 2016-01-05 at 7.39.03 PM

3″ Pads. These I probably won’t cover with microfiber:

Screen Shot 2016-01-05 at 7.37.28 PM

Screen Shot 2016-01-05 at 7.40.32 PM

Screen Shot 2016-01-05 at 7.41.05 PM