Kit Aircraft Modifications

Hi Everyone,

I received a message from my engine ECM guru Bob at OBD Diagnostics today indicating that he has recently done some work a Velocity with an LS1 in it. It has the same Delphi MEFI-4b ECM in it as is used in my RV-10.

Bob said that he had a look at the tune that was supplied with the unit as purchased from Painless Performance. His assessment was not very good. He felt that the engine was being run too lean and he has since come up with a baseline tune that is better for the engine in the aviation environment.

The whole issue of what ECM is best to run these alternative engines in aircraft has been a controversial discussion topic for years. I have met those who swear by the factory ECM and those who wouldn’t touch one with a ten foot pole. I happen to be in the latter camp and I have one of the Delphi MEFI-4b units in my aircraft.

I chose this unit mostly because of its reputation for robustness. The thing was designed for the marine environment and is pretty bullet proof. It is also small. About one third the size of an OEM unit. I also like the fact that there are tools available to be able to tune the program. Lastly, I like the fact that it is an engine only computer. It is not designed to operate a transmission as well. This reduces programming complexity and any reduction in complexity is welcome when installing a conversion engine in an airplane.

A move is afoot by people flying this LS1 setup to evaluate the new tune. They are taking an instrumented approach and this will lead to a better knowledge of the programming and its interaction with the aviation environment and power requirements.

I have recently received my Certificate of Airworthiness and in the short time before we fly I am assuming that I will be learning how to install a new program in this computer.

Build Smart and Fly Safe!

Dave

Hello Everyone,

I recently had the final inspection completed  on my RV-10 and one of the snags surprised me. The inspector was looking at my beautiful Andair fuel caps and asked me whether they were ground bonded to the airframe. I didn’t know so we took a multi-meter and checked to see if there was an electrical connection between the Andair sleeve that gets bonded into the original fuel neck in Van’s wing tank and the wing skin. There wasn’t.

This meant that I had to come up with a way to electrically connect the original neck of the fuel tank and the sleeve that gets bonded in with tank sealant.

What I did to correct this was to  drill a hole in the Skirt of the Andair sleeve big enough to allow a 6-32 machine screw to almost pass through. I then drilled a smaller hole through the skirt of the tank filler neck right behind it. I had to countersink the outer hole so that the screw head would not interfere with the fuel cap. There is not much clearance. I used a tap and carefully started the threads in the Andair sleeve. I then threaded the screw that had been sharpened somewhat through both sleeves.

All of this had to be done carefully in order to keep any contaminants out of the fuel tank. I accomplished this by taking strips of masking tape and looping them down into the tank fill opening and just leaving the area exposed where I drilled the hole. When I finished I vacuumed out the hole and checked inside for filings. Anything that landed on the empty tank bottom was removed with a stick that had tape affixed to it sticky side out.

I tested the new configuration for continuity and found that electricity flowed from the inner sleeve to the wing skin. For all of the thinking it took to come up with a workable fix, it took only 10 minutes to actually perform the work.

The interesting thing about this problem is that Andair knows about it but couldn’t offer any suggestions as to a fix. I hope that this helps anyone else who has these fuel caps.

Keep on building,

Dave

Hi Everyone,

I just came across a new flight planning site that has been developed by Canadians and is Canadian at its core. It is called World Flight Planner.

www.worldflightplanner.com

What a refreshing change. It seems that all of the products that I have been reviewing lately in anticipation of flying my plane think that Canada is only 100 miles from North to South! It is frustrating to see all of these wonderful tools in the hands of the Americans and we are left in the cold up here with our whiz wheels!!

EH to GO Doug and Blake!! You have made one Canadian VERY Happy.

Dave

Hi Everyone,

I found this mod in the back pages of  Doug Reeves’ site www.vansairforce.net

Paul Grey from Alabama came up with an arm rest for his RV-7 that is functional and nice looking. I have clipped his caption to explain the photos.

Dave

Hi all, Hope everyone had a good Christmas. Thought I’d post a couple pictures of my cockpit… er… the evolution on the cockpit. The cockpit was pretty much done then I decided I wanted an arm rest. This is what I came up with. Super simple and cheap. You’ll see I also moved the elevator trim knob to just under the armrest. The reason I moved it was because if I was in the seat with shoulder harnesses on, I really could not reach the knob without loosing the shoulder straps. Now, the only thing in the cockpit I can’t reach without loosening the straps is the fuel tank selector. The armrest is perfect as it places my hand right at the throttle. Very comfy. Reaching the trim knob, (and the aileron trim), is just a matter of coming at it from the passenger side of the armrest. Both are easily reached without loosening any shoulder straps.

Cockpit Before Mod

Arm Rest Frame

Arm Rest Attached to Flap Cover

Covered with trim knob moved

Finished Arm Rest

Hi Everyone,

I received notice from Geared Drives a while ago that they are suggesting that everyone install separate fuses for each of the ignition coils. Apparently they had an occurrence of a coil shorting out. This in turn caused the fuse that supplies all of the coils to blow and the total loss of power.

Geared Drives suggested that we purchase a Granger fuse holder and 20A fuse for each coil pack.

The Granger unit looks like this:

Here is a photo of the finished installation on my LS1:

It worked out that it is a very neat installation that leaves me lots of room to get at the fuses. Looks “Factory”!

Keep on building but remember to kiss the wife and thank her for letting you have so much fun without her! You don’t want to get AIDS (Aircraft Induced Divorce Syndrome)

Dave

Greetings,

I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday!

I have an airplane that doesn’t have a small window for the pilot to open and shout “CLEAR” out of when starting the engine. When it is cold out you want that door shut and with its gull wing design you cant leave it raised with the engine running.

Initially, I thought that it would be neat to have a small powered PA speaker mounted in the engine compartment through which you could broadcast your “CLEAR” at the appropriate time. It would be somehow linked into the audio panel and your headset microphone. This idea proved to be more trouble than it solved.

I then got the idea of installing a small car horn in the engine compartment so that you could warn a larger area with the touch of a button while keeping the doors closed.

I wired it such that the horn circuit is energized only when the starter button is energized. This would keep inadvertent activation to a minimum.

I works very well except for the cheapness of the horn I purchased. It doesn’t sound very authoritative. I guess I will have to be on the lookout for a different horn.

Happy Building,

Dave

Hi everyone,

I would like to announce that I have started a separate blog that will talk about my Dail2Start Cellular Control Units and in general remote control via GSM controlled switches.

I would be very pleased if you signed up to follow either of my blogs as this gets the word out further and wider to people who might be interested in purchasing my units.

Briefly, the Dial2Start Cellular Switch can operate any 100v appliance, motor, pump,etc. from anywhere in the world via SMS text messaging. It works great for starting up furnaces at cottages, controlling vehicle pre-heaters and such. Heck, I even have a unit in a bill board controlling a JackPot sign that lights up when the casino has a winner!

I would be pleased if you had a look at the new bolg and sign up if you are interested. It is located at:

http://dial2start.blogspot.com/

Thanks,

Dave

Hi everyone,

Recently, I completed the final inspection on my RV-10 and after fixing up a few snags ( I would have been VERY surprised if he didn’t find any problems) I now have permission to take her flying. We have named the plane Vera May after my grandmother and I have been able to get the registration marks C-GVMH which are her initials. I have a couple of issues to deal with before she takes flight though. I have a nagging radio problem that we have been trying to rectify. The SL-30 has been going into COMM failure after it warms up and it eventually will not change frequencies. It transmits and receives OK on the frequency it is on, it just stops allowing you to flip/flop after a while. No primary radio. No first flight. Simple as that! I have an avionics tech working with me on it.

I am SO happy that this 7 year build is coming to an end. I am looking forward to flying this thing and eventually sharing it with my VERY patient wife and children. So far, I have avoided AIDS (Aircraft Induced Divorce Syndrome) but my wife does want to see some utility out of the huge black money pit that sits in the hangar. You ALL know what I am talking about.

I was out at the airport on Saturday and had an opportunity to run the engine up close to max RPM. A friend of mine named Gary who owns an RV-7 was around and later told me how sweet the LS1 sounded. He said that he couldn’t hear the prop but rather the engine. Said that he looks forward to watching me do a ‘runway inspection’ so he can hear the engine in flight. I look forward to obliging him.

I had purchased a MT prop governor from Van’s a while back thinking that they are all the same. Well, they’re NOT! There are actually 4 variants of the prop governor as I have come to understand. Clockwise and counter-clockwise as well as pressure to go coarse and pressure to go fine. I had purchased a CW unit and I needed a CCW unit. (I think that is right) Anyway, I had a P-860-4 and I needed an P-850-4. I sent it into Hope Propeller in Mississauga Ontario and they converted it over to the opposite direction.

I mounted it on the gearbox and ran the engine up and whadda ya know!! It worked. It took a while to get the oil into the prop hub to move the piston but it eventually worked. Much to my better state of mind.

I am going to have another pilot do the first flight for me. I don’t have enough experience in higher performance aircraft to do the first flight. He has 12,000+ hours and tons of time behind high performance engines. He holds his current ATPL license so he can transition me into the cockpit after the first couple of flights.

Hope everyone had a good holiday and that they got lots of work done on their projects.

Dave