Went Flying Again

Today I went flying before the bad weather hits.  It was fun to just fly around the pattern and do some touch-and-goes.  I am learning just where to set the trim to hold 60 knots and descend from pattern altitude to the runway.  I am zeroing in on the technique to have good landings each time I come around.  I removed the rear portion of the nose wheel pant and dropped it off for Dave to paint.  I hope he is able to get to it soon.

No Problems With Repaired Wheel Pant

I reinstalled the aft portion of the nose wheel pant and went flying yesterday and today.  I made a total of 7-take-offs and landings with no problems.  The wheel pant is just fine.  I will remove it from the airplane and take it to Dave Wissinger on Monday the 28^th.

Completed The Wheel Pant Repair

Today I completed the repair of the nose wheel pant.  I laid out and cut the opening for the tire.  I enlarged the opening to the rear so I would not have a repeat of the earlier problem.  I sanded the fiberglass resin and then applied some body filler over the voids.  I sanded the body filler and the pant is now ready for paint.  I left a message for and then texted Dave Wissinger to let him know it is ready to be painted.  Dave is heading out of town today and will be back this weekend.  I told him I would get the pant to him on Monday and he said he would get it painted.  What more can I ask for?  I will put the pant back on the airplane and go flying.  I will remove it and take it to Dave on Monday.  

Resume Wheel Pant Repair

I have been gone for several days so there has been no progress towards the wheel pant repair.  There was a ‘freak’ storm in Rexburg, Idaho on Tuesday the 15^th at 5:00 pm.  Our niece called to say her parent’s home (Bruce and Alynda Kusch who are living in Cuernavaca, Mexico where Bruce is serving as an LDS Mission President) had been flooded.  Jen was in tears because she and her husband and their kids were living in the home until next summer when the Kusch’s return from Mexico.  There was 7’+ of water in the basement where they kids slept and all of the kids furniture and belongs were in the basement.  Additionally, all of the Kusch’s furniture and belongings were stored in a large room in the basement which was now under water.  While I was at the airport the next day Jen called to ask if I could come up to help her.  The situation was too overwhelming for her to handle on her own.  Arlene called me, I ran home, packed a bag, grabbed some tools and was on my way to Rexburg.  I was in Rexburg until Saturday afternoon.  There were several places that got flooded.  It was a freaky 100 year storm and because Rexburg is not in a flood zone no one has flood insurance.  This is going to be an expensive repair for all who sustained damage.

I went to the airport today and sanded the fiberglass patch I put in the wheel pant last week.  I then added an additional layer of fiberglass to the inside of the repair area and put a layer of epoxy resin over the patch on the outside.  Tomorrow I will return and sand everything down.  I will probably have to use some body filler to fix any small voids in the surface.  

I also attached a carbon monoxide monitor card to the instrument panel.

Repair Nose Wheel Fairing

Yesterday I discovered the bottom of the rear portion of the nose wheel pants had been broken out.  I removed that portion of the pant this morning to fully survey the damage.  It appears from the black on the corner that was broken out that I need to extend the rear opening a bit more to the rear of the pant. 

I cut a piece of blue foam to make a form for the shape of the bottom of the fairing.  I carved and sanded the foam to the proper shape than covered it with plastic.  I also marked where the original cutout  for the wheel was located.

I cut some fiberglass patches.  One to go over the blue foam with the edges to the inside of the hole.  This piece will be sort of a filler.  I then cut a piece that will go over the entire hole out to where I have sanded away the white paint.  I mixed  some fiberglass resin, saturated the pieces and put them in place on the fairing.  I will allow this setup to cure and then remove the foam and put another layer of glass inside of the fairing.

Went Flying

Today I went flying.  I took off and everything went perfect.  I did 2-touch and goes at South Valley Regional then headed NW to the Tooele valley.  I did 2-touch and goes at the Tooele Valley airport and then headed south to Cedar Valley.  I engaged the autopilot and climbed to 7500’.  I flew around the Munitions Disposal Plant and then west.  I flew into a across Cedar Valley then to the east side of the Lewiston Peak and up the shore of Utah Lake back to the point of the mountain.  I entered the Salt Lake valley and flew NW to South Valley Regional.  I made one last landing then put the airplane away.  While doing so I noticed a sort of clicking sound coming from the nose wheel.  I checked and found the nose wheel fairing had been broken.  I don’t recall flopping the nose wheel on any of my landings but it obviously deflected enough to catch the rear and sides of the fairing and it broke out a chunk about 3-4” behind the tire.  I will remove the back portion of the fairing and do a fiberglass patch.  I will then take the fairing to Dave Wissinger and have him repaint the lower portion of the fairing.  I guess there will always be something to work on. 

I took some new photos of the airplane.  I need to come back and take better photos in the afternoon sun.

Ready To Fly

We returned from our trip to  San Luis Obispo, California.  Arlene’s aunt passed away and we decided it was important for us to be there.  Other than her son and his wife and her daughter, we were the only family members in attendance.  Aunt Ruth was 95 years old and most of her friends have already proceeded her in death, so the funeral was quite small.  Arlene and I have not been in San Luis Obispo since 1971.  I went to college at Cal Poly and it was fun to see the old campus again.  It has changed drastically in the last 43 years.  I even found a dorm building with our  name on it.  I am sure it was not named ‘Jespersen Hall’ because I attended school there.  But, it was fun to see and I took a picture.

Today I put the top cowl back on and adjusted the fuel computer to a more realistic number.  I took a picture of the reinstalled and sealed pitot tubing attached to the pitot tube.  It also shows the safety wire to the pitot block.  The tubing had better stay attached this time.  Based on some information found in the VanAirForce RV-12 forum I have increased the value to 120,000+.  I will see if the actual fuel used and the calculated amount come a little closer.  I also used some Plexus to clean the bugs off of the nose and wing.  With everything put back together, cleaned, safety wired and updated, the airplane is once again ready to fly!

Airspeed Problems

I went to the airport this morning to try and fly with the temps a little lower.  I made 3-take-off attempts before finally throwing in the towel.  The head temps were in line, but the airspeed indicator would not go above 48 knots.  Each time the airplane wanted to fly, but without 55 knots showing I aborted each take-off.  I taxied back to the hanger and got out the PAP.  I turned to the pitot test page, hooked up a syringe and attempted to pressurize the pitot tube.  NO JOY!.  Nothing shows on the airspeed indicator.  I blew into the tube with the same results.  I removed the top cowl to find the plastic pitot tubing had come off of the pitot tube at the pitot block.  This explains why I was unable to get up to 55 knots on the 4^th.  Before reconnecting the tubing to the pitot tube I rerouted it over the engine under some hoses it had previously passed over so there is no tension on the tubing.  I think there may have been some tension and that is why it became disconnected in the first place.  I reattached the pitot tubing to the pitot tube and safety wired the connection.  I also ran the twisted safety wire to the screw holding the pitot tube in the pitot block and twisted it in place.  I ran a 1 minute test on the pitot system and it dropped less than 2 knots on the airspeed indicator.  Hopefully I will be able to get back into the air on Friday the 11^th.

Took Grandkids Flying

Today was going to be a fun day taking 3-of my grandkids for a short flight.  I took Taylor, my granddaughter up first.  We flew around the south end of the valley for about 20 minutes then returned to the airport.  We taxied to the hangar and I shut off the engine.  Taylor exited the aircraft and Kaleb climbed in.  I restarted the engine and the oil temp was quite high.  The cylinder heads were also very hot, over 240^o. I taxied out to the runway and attempted a take-off.  I could not attain a 55 knot airspeed  with only 1500’ left on the runway so I aborted the take-off.  By then both CHTs were in the red.  I taxied back to the hangar and shut it down for the day.  The OAT was 36c and there was a hot wind blowing.  I think shutting the engine down for about 5 minutes and then restarting was too much for the cooling system.  The engine became too hot just sitting for that time, retaining heat instead of losing heat.  I am going to have to do something about that if I am going to continue flying during the hot weather.  I have checked the VansAirForce website and relocated some posts about a heat shroud between the muffler and the oil cooler.  I will be doing the 25 hour 1^st oil change in the next few days and will see about installing a shroud while the lower cowling is off.

Flight To Wendover and Wheel Pants

On July 1^st  I made a flight to Wendover and back.  I took Tim, my grandson along as a passenger.  We had a pleasant flight.  The airplane performed well.  After departing the Salt Lake Valley we started our climb over the lake.  We climbed to 8500 and all went well.  I was climbing at 200 VS to keep the head temperatures down.  It was a hot day, but we did just fine.  After spending about 30 minutes on the ground in Wendover we made the return flight.  It was nice to be able to fly out and back in about the same amount of time it takes to drive one way.

I continue to have background noise on the headset.  The noise occurs when I am at full throttle climbing out.  It diminishes when I am at cruise but really never goes away.  The noise begins with some popping sounds and then progresses until there is a lot of static and it is hard to hear radio communications.  It is most pronounced on the pilot headset.  I did some research and have found some information that indicates a solution maybe to adjust the mic levels on the SL-40.  Yesterday I made the suggested changes and plugged in my small shop vac.  I put the shop vac on the passenger seat, closed the canopy and turned it on.  This is one the tests another pilot used to check the background noise being picked up by the mic.  I called Unicom for a radio check and all went well.  I hope to get back into the air to do a flight test.

Yesterday I installed the wheel pants and fairings.  I also want to get back into the air to see if there is a change in performance.  Everyone I have talked to about this suggests the performance will be much improved.