Transition Training Sessions

Posted on by
Vans RV6A

This is the original factory RV6A. It has over 5000 hours on it and three shades of blue for all the pieces that have been replaced. It still feels and sounds solid as we bump over Mikes grass strip.

Vernonia FieldToday was my first day of transition training with Mike Seager down south in Vernonia Oregon. I flew into Portland yesterday via Alaska Airways from Calgary and then grabbed a rental car for the hour or so drive over to the town of Vernonia. Mike has a couple of hangers at the Vernonia airport just outside of town. Mike has been running transition training sessions for many years and has many thousands of hours experience training with RVs. This week we are training in a RV6A which according to Mike flies the same way as my RV9A, only about 10 mph faster for most of the standard procedures like cruise, flap extension, downwind and final.

Any thing I had read or heard about the RV9A being as easy to fly as a 172 have been discarded after today. Everything happens quickly in this aircraft and a light touch (not grip) on the stick is all that is required. Mike puts a lot of work into getting the trainee into the right mindset for unloading the nose wheel.

I am learning how to steer the aircraft with only differential braking on the mains which is really different from steering with a nose wheel. I feel pretty humbled by this task, darn hard to keep the rudder pedals neutral and keep the aircraft going in a straight line. It was better at the end of the day than it was this morning but still not a pretty scene.

The takeoffs require a technique that involves holding the stick back when power is added, lifting the nose wheel off and then pushing the stick forward slightly until the aircraft lifts off. It happens too quick for me yet, still not ahead of the aircraft this early in the game.

We flew over to Scappoose KSPB which has a paved runway and practiced the circuit and landing procedures. Today we did 6 landings there and two back at the home strip. It was pretty ugly work on my part but I am optimistic it will improve a lot by the end of the week. We also worked on upper air work today, steep turns, climbs, slow flight and stalls. The air was pretty rough in the afternoon but my attention was on the task at hand.

One thing for sure, I have acquired some pretty bad flying habits that Mike is working on breaking. In my 701 I use the trim tab to set aircraft altitude and not the elevator. I usually only use the elevator for takeoff and landing control. In the RV6A I have to use the elevator to get to desired altitude and then trim to hold that altitude. I can see the fault with my old technique now as I am always fiddling with the trim wheel to maintain level flight.

Landing at the home field is pretty cool. You approach the end of the runway at a 45 degree angle where a path is cut through the forest going down the mountain side. You come out of the forest and then lineup with the runway for what’s left of a final approach and landing. This goes on at 85 mph and a decent rate of 500 fpm until you’re over the runway, then cut power and glide in.

So that’s today summary. I was pretty well drained by the end of todays session. Mike asked me a question on final approach to the home field to which I answered, “sorry Mike, I can’t process that question right now “, I only had enough brain left to fly the plane!

Tomorrow will be a great day, sunshine and warm weather.

Final assembly starts now

Posted on by

TLL in Hanger1 TLL in hanger2 TLL in hanger3With transport behind me, its time to get down to the last big job, namely final assembly. Today the wings went on, horizontal stab, elevators and vertical stabilizer. It had been a while since those components were last fitted but it all went together in four hours today. The open hanger door has attracted a few curious visitors who want to see what had been consuming my free time for the last few years.

I think the biggest task so far has been emptying my workshop and transporting everything I think I will need to the hanger. I was fortunate to have an empty hanger to start with and not have to deal with a pre-existing mess (like my other hanger the 701 sleeps in). There is a pile of tables and chairs against one wall which we use for our flyin breakfast on the labour day weekend, but so far the tables have proven to be quite valuable as I spread out parts and drawings.

I am truly fortunate to have such an understanding wife who puts up with this time and cash consuming obsession.

Tango Lima Lima rides to the hanger

Posted on by

The time had finally come when the project had to leave the garage and get to the hanger for final assembly. Earlier in the week, my son and I set up to load the RV9A on my car transport trailer. I had never actually measured the width of the trailer and was surprised to find the trailer was about 2 inches too narrow to safely hold the RV9A. I had seen many aircraft pictured on the Van’s Airforce forum travelling to the airport on the back of a sliding deck truck so that became plan B. Our local auto wrecker was recruited for the task. He showed up at 5pm, we loaded the aircraft, made the short 15 minute trip to the airport, unloaded right into my hanger and dropped me back off at home at 6:15. It was too easy!

IMG_0523 (600x800) (600x800)

Tango Lima Lima loaded and secured for the trip to Stettler

IMG_0522 (768x1024)

Wheel straps secured the mains to the truck deck. We used a short D-Ring strap around the nose gear to tug the aircraft onto the deck. I steered with the makeshift pull bar to centre the wheels on the deck.

IMG_0524 (960x1280)

I kept a close eye on the cargo as we headed down th ehighway

IMG_0525 (960x1280)

The hanger’s inner doors opened just enough to accept the truck deck

IMG_0526 (960x1280)

I guided the nose wheel with my makeshift pull bar while the truck driver let the winch cable out.

IMG_0527 (960x1280)

Tango Lima Lima slides into her new home

IMG_0528 (960x1280)

That was too easy! Now onto final assembly.

Propeller Spinner

Posted on by

Fitting and installing the spiner has proven to be a bit more of a task than I anticipated. Not that anything was particularly difficult, just tedious and slow careful work so as to avoid making the cutouts for the three prop blades too large. There is no redo on too large a cutout, just a reorder new spinner and start again.

The first step is fitting the two support plates in the spinner, squaring them up with each other and the spinner itself. The distance between the two plates must be exactly the same as the thickness of the prop hub. The Catto prop hub is 1/8″ thinner than this measured distance. Solution is: order a 1/8″ spacer plate from Vans to make the overall thickness equal 4.5″ . As an interim solution, I made 6 spacer washers from aluminum plate so I could continue with this task.

Next a cardboard template is made that provides the shape of the blade at the point where the spinner is attached. This shape is traced onto the spinner exactly 120 degrees apart and then cutout using the usual collection of fiberglass tools. Once cut out and fine tuned, a hole filler plate is made of 063 aluminum which is riveted to the spinner back plate.

The final step is drilling pilot holes around the perimeter of both spinner mounting plates thru the spinner (in assembly) and then removing and installing approx 24 nutplates.

Pictures to follow.

The RV9A gets a name – C-FTLL

Posted on by

Prior to starting the final inspection process, the project plane has to be assigned registration marks by Transport Canada Licensing. You have two options here, let the magic computer at Transport do a random pick from the available registration marks and give you something that may or maynot be pronouncable or go thru the list yourself, pick what you like and then pay Transport Canada a fee of $140 for providing this service to them.

So I picked C-FTLL, Tango Lima Lima, something I will be repeating many times over the next 10 plus years I hope to fly this aircraft.