Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Don't Forget To Get Your NEW RV-Nation 2013 Calendar
Our NEW RV-Nation 2013 RV Calendars are HERE! These are one of the BEST RV calendar you will see. Dates spread from March 2013 to February 2014. Click below to order yours now!
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Holy Cowl!! Significant RV4 Speed Increase
My RV4 was built in 1986. It had the original Van's cowling, wheelpants, rubber wingroot fairings, and had the rectangular air intakes. I used to fly along side my father's RV6, which cruises at 190 mph, and was usually about the same speed.
Then I brought the plane in for a major refurbishment. I changed the cowling out for a Sam James Holy Cowl, which was significantly lighter, and had the round air intake openings. Sam James, who is a friend of mine, told me he had done significant studied showing that round inlets provide less drag that rectangular inlets. I then installed a Sam James fiberglass plenum chamber. I really liked the plenum chamber, but I did have some over heating problems at first. The reason for the overheating was not the plenum chamber however, it was because there was too much leakage around the plenum. After fixing the leakage, the temps were constant around 180 degrees.
I then attached the Sam James fiberglass wingroot fairings. This was an easy install, and super slick. I would highly recommend this for everyone. I installed the Van's pressure recovery wheel pants, then made really slick upper and lower gear root fairings along with fiberglass gear fairings. I followed this by a new paintjob. The decrease in weight was really significant. The next time that I flew along side my father's RV6, I had to throttle back considerably, because I was leaving him in the dust! My -4 now cruised at 205 mph, and faster at full throttle.
I attribute the major speed difference to the Sam James cowl and plenum chamber, along with the significant weight loss because of the new installation. Thanks Sammy!
If you want to outfit your RV with some really nice fiberglass Holy Cowl, plenum chamber, or wingroot fairings, contact Sam James Aircraft at
(863) 234-1096. Tell him Scott "Buzz" Brown sent you!
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Amazing Determination, Eternal RV Grin
I went to the Tripple Tree fly-in for the first time this year. I must say I had a blast. The grounds there are exceptionally beautiful, like being in aviation paradise. While I was taking pictures of RV's that were flying in, I noticed that there was a very pretty RV7A that was just parking. I ran over to it to take some pictures of it as the pilot was shutting down the engine. I wanted to get one last picture of the plane, but with the pilot next to it, so I asked if he minded if I took a picture of him and the plane. He smiled real big, and said sure and proceeded to climb out of the plane. As soon as he threw his leg over the side of the cockpit rail, I was completely shocked! He had one leg and the other was a prosthetic leg. I guess I didn't hide my shock very well when I took a double take on his leg. He laughed at me and said, "Pretty amazing, huh?"
I asked him how he flew with just one leg. He then invited me to the cockpit of his plane and showed me all the custom designs that he had created to allow him to fly safely and effectively. I was floored to say the least!!
The name of the pilot was Carl Bell, a super friendly man guy whom has taken some lemons that life has served him and turned them in to lemon meringue cream pie with whipped cream and a cherry on top! We talked for a good long time, and I took many pictures of his plane and handy work. He told me he had written an article about all the work he had done on his plane, and that it had been posted in several venues. He said that if I wanted to have it for RV-Nation that he would gladly send it to me, which he did. The following is his article for all of us to read. I hope you enjoy his RV7A creative workmanship as much as I did, and if you are in need of this type of setup, hope this helps to make your aviation dreams a reality.
"In my younger years I always thought I would be a pilot, I loved model airplanes and graduated into radio controls in my teens. After a stint in Vietnam, it was back to the real world, getting an education and finding a job to support a new family. While doing this, I started pilot training earning my Private, Commercial, and Instrument ratings. I figured I could eventually get out of the high-tech computer industry and move on to the fun stuff of flying for a living. What I didn't realize was how little a rookie pilot got paid, especially compared to the computer industry, nor how long it really took to turn flying into a viable career. This didn't play well for a family with with our first baby in the hangar and accustomed to a reasonable cash flow.
I became successful in my computer career, but never lost my dream of building an airplane and flying again. I started building a Skybolt, a Sonerai, and a 2-seater of my own design, but my company moved me around and all these projects had to be sold before they were finished. Would I ever have an airplane or would life always get in the way? After many trips to Oshkosh and a trip to Oregon to see and fly the RV7, I made up my mind to get a Quickbuild and see it through, no matter what.
This time, something more drastic than a company move got in the way. While in my late forties, I was playing golf at my home course. A sudden storm developed and I ended up with a large tree on top of both me and my new golf cart on the 13th hole. Yeah, I know this seems like a tall tail, but it's the truth. The tree almost took me out, but some really great doctors brought me back from near death. They managed to save most of my body parts, all except for my left leg.
So, here I am, years later, with 2 million miles logged in airplanes. Unfortunately, they were all airplanes that said Delt, United, or US Airlines on the fuselage. No leg, no airplane of my own, and a few years from retirement. Crap! This is just not working out.
Not one to let a few inconveniences get me down, I went to the local FBO and hooked up with an experienced and patient flight instructor to see if I could fly Cherokees safely and reinstate my ratings. I became comfortable with my skills and the instructor signed me off on a flight test with an FAA examiner to get a SODA ( Statement of Demonstrated Ability) waiver on my medical. I passed after a pretty rigorous flight test, but I wasn't totally happy with my rudder braking authority using my prosthetic leg with is attached above the knee.
On top of this, my plan was to build (if you're counting, this is the 4th build attempt) an RV7A. My objective was to fly a high performance homebuilt as well as a fully abled person. To me, that meant full rudder authority for gentleman's aerobatics and crosswind landings and no compromises flying, braking or taxi operations. I was not going to take my wife Cheryl up or any passengers unless was positive my skills were not compromised. The plan was straight-forward; add differential hand brakes between the seats and a push-pull rudder that would allow me to fly with my good right leg.
Now that you have the background, let's look at the modifications I made to N947CB "Redhawk", my beloved handicapped facilitated RV7A.
The Handbrakes
Let's start with the modifications for the handbrakes. I wanted this design to be simple and also easily removable in case I needed to sell the plane. After all, I'm on the "back nine" and medicals are still required for your Private and Instrument tickets. I zeroed in on dual handbrakes between the seats leaving the toe brakes and rudder pedals per Van's plans. I knew from previous experience, and Van's preaching, that departing from the plans meant added time, complexity, and weight and introduced other bad or unknown factors. Still, I reasoned that adding two master cylinders, some extra brake lines and handles should be straight forward and get the job done.
Construction of the Handbrakes
I used the same Matco master cylinders as those in the kit, but with adjustable clevis ends (MCMC-4A). I consulted with Matco and they told me adding two more cylinders in line with the other four was not a problem, except perhaps for bleeding. They were also kind enough to send me the leverage design data so I could figure out the mechanical advantage required for the hand lever design. I constructed the finished system our of 2024-T4 x 1/4" aluminum angle and bar stock. I also added a .063 doubler with the 3/16" nut plates to the seat pans for strength and so I could easily remove them if need be for maintenance or removal. If anyone needs handbrakes, I would be happy to share my design and dimensions.
The Push-Pull Rudder System
I dreamed up a number of designs for the push/pull rudder. The simplest used pulleys and a cable between the left and right pedals. This design seemed prone to issues and would require a "U" turn in the cable. Then I saw an elegant design used for nose wheel steering on a GP-4 and reasoned it would give the push-pull that I needed. I would just drop out the nose wheel steering part of the linkage. After many revisions on the drafting board with the pedals shown in full deflection, I came up with a fairly simple design, using a bell crank under the front deck and two adjustable rods similar to the flap linkage.
Building the Push-Pull Rudder System
Modifying the rudder pedals during construction was easy. The basic design is two levers welded to the horizontal rudder pedal tubes, attached to a bearing bell crank mounted to the middle rib under the instrument panel. There are doublers in the panel rib similar to those used for the canopy support tube. As mentioned, two control rods attached from the bell crank from the left and right horizontal rudder pedal tubes levers. The adjustable control rods are also used for tensioning the cables. The last part of this design is a foot yoke that goes over the top of my right foot so I can pull the right rudder pedal moving the rudder left. The yoke is attached with two AN-3 bolts through welded bosses in the right rudder pedal tube. If you happen to be a right leg amputee you would mount the foot yoke on the left pedal. The neat part is I can remove the two bolts, the bell crank and push rods and the plane reverts to a standard RV.
Conclusions
The hand brake design works really well. I don't have the issues that some pilots have with riding the toe brakes and I can turn on a dime. In crosswind conditions it adds to controllability without excessive brake drag. The only change that might be useful for smaller/weaker pilots would be to add a little more mechanical advantage to reduce application force. Bleeding the brakes was not a problem, and after solving a couple leaking fittings, I was good to go. I also would recommend using a Matco parking brake for additional safety. I plan to add one during the first annual. The system wasn't cheap. It added almost $350 in cost and about 4 pounds in weight.
While the hand brake system scores a 9.5 out of 10, the push-pull rudder system only scores a 7 out of 10. Why? Well, it's that big rudder Van designed for the -7A. For taxi and crosswind landings up to 10 or 15 mph, it works well. For anything more than that, I do not have enough pull strength in my right leg to get full deflection. I still tend to use my left prosthetic leg on windy days to get more left rudder as needed, but for now I also carefully plan my trips and if the winds or weather exceeds my comfort zone, I don't fly. I am getting more skilled at flying in adverse conditions, but I am expanding the envelope carefully. Again, nothing is free and this revision added about $200 in cost and 4 pounds of weight, not to mention many additional hours in build time.
There are many pilots before me that have overcome serious handicaps, and they were a great inspiration to me. I remember an article about a paraplegic builder that converted his RV6 to all hand controls.....throttle, rudder, brakes and control stick. And a taildragger to boot - amazing! If he can do it, I can do it. My point is, if there is something getting in the way or your dream, just keep working towards it with determination and it will happen. Every day that I fly "Redhawk", I am truly amazed with the harmony and design of this beautiful plane. The only issue I have now is I can't get rid of this huge "grin" on my face. If you want to see more pictures of the build, they are at www.mykitlog.com/carlbell ".
Truly inspirational to all of us to keep on reaching for our dreams, and never give up.
Keep on RV-N,
Buzz
RV-Nation
I asked him how he flew with just one leg. He then invited me to the cockpit of his plane and showed me all the custom designs that he had created to allow him to fly safely and effectively. I was floored to say the least!!
The name of the pilot was Carl Bell, a super friendly man guy whom has taken some lemons that life has served him and turned them in to lemon meringue cream pie with whipped cream and a cherry on top! We talked for a good long time, and I took many pictures of his plane and handy work. He told me he had written an article about all the work he had done on his plane, and that it had been posted in several venues. He said that if I wanted to have it for RV-Nation that he would gladly send it to me, which he did. The following is his article for all of us to read. I hope you enjoy his RV7A creative workmanship as much as I did, and if you are in need of this type of setup, hope this helps to make your aviation dreams a reality."In my younger years I always thought I would be a pilot, I loved model airplanes and graduated into radio controls in my teens. After a stint in Vietnam, it was back to the real world, getting an education and finding a job to support a new family. While doing this, I started pilot training earning my Private, Commercial, and Instrument ratings. I figured I could eventually get out of the high-tech computer industry and move on to the fun stuff of flying for a living. What I didn't realize was how little a rookie pilot got paid, especially compared to the computer industry, nor how long it really took to turn flying into a viable career. This didn't play well for a family with with our first baby in the hangar and accustomed to a reasonable cash flow.
I became successful in my computer career, but never lost my dream of building an airplane and flying again. I started building a Skybolt, a Sonerai, and a 2-seater of my own design, but my company moved me around and all these projects had to be sold before they were finished. Would I ever have an airplane or would life always get in the way? After many trips to Oshkosh and a trip to Oregon to see and fly the RV7, I made up my mind to get a Quickbuild and see it through, no matter what.
This time, something more drastic than a company move got in the way. While in my late forties, I was playing golf at my home course. A sudden storm developed and I ended up with a large tree on top of both me and my new golf cart on the 13th hole. Yeah, I know this seems like a tall tail, but it's the truth. The tree almost took me out, but some really great doctors brought me back from near death. They managed to save most of my body parts, all except for my left leg.
So, here I am, years later, with 2 million miles logged in airplanes. Unfortunately, they were all airplanes that said Delt, United, or US Airlines on the fuselage. No leg, no airplane of my own, and a few years from retirement. Crap! This is just not working out.
Not one to let a few inconveniences get me down, I went to the local FBO and hooked up with an experienced and patient flight instructor to see if I could fly Cherokees safely and reinstate my ratings. I became comfortable with my skills and the instructor signed me off on a flight test with an FAA examiner to get a SODA ( Statement of Demonstrated Ability) waiver on my medical. I passed after a pretty rigorous flight test, but I wasn't totally happy with my rudder braking authority using my prosthetic leg with is attached above the knee.
On top of this, my plan was to build (if you're counting, this is the 4th build attempt) an RV7A. My objective was to fly a high performance homebuilt as well as a fully abled person. To me, that meant full rudder authority for gentleman's aerobatics and crosswind landings and no compromises flying, braking or taxi operations. I was not going to take my wife Cheryl up or any passengers unless was positive my skills were not compromised. The plan was straight-forward; add differential hand brakes between the seats and a push-pull rudder that would allow me to fly with my good right leg.
Now that you have the background, let's look at the modifications I made to N947CB "Redhawk", my beloved handicapped facilitated RV7A.
Let's start with the modifications for the handbrakes. I wanted this design to be simple and also easily removable in case I needed to sell the plane. After all, I'm on the "back nine" and medicals are still required for your Private and Instrument tickets. I zeroed in on dual handbrakes between the seats leaving the toe brakes and rudder pedals per Van's plans. I knew from previous experience, and Van's preaching, that departing from the plans meant added time, complexity, and weight and introduced other bad or unknown factors. Still, I reasoned that adding two master cylinders, some extra brake lines and handles should be straight forward and get the job done.
Construction of the Handbrakes
I used the same Matco master cylinders as those in the kit, but with adjustable clevis ends (MCMC-4A). I consulted with Matco and they told me adding two more cylinders in line with the other four was not a problem, except perhaps for bleeding. They were also kind enough to send me the leverage design data so I could figure out the mechanical advantage required for the hand lever design. I constructed the finished system our of 2024-T4 x 1/4" aluminum angle and bar stock. I also added a .063 doubler with the 3/16" nut plates to the seat pans for strength and so I could easily remove them if need be for maintenance or removal. If anyone needs handbrakes, I would be happy to share my design and dimensions.
I dreamed up a number of designs for the push/pull rudder. The simplest used pulleys and a cable between the left and right pedals. This design seemed prone to issues and would require a "U" turn in the cable. Then I saw an elegant design used for nose wheel steering on a GP-4 and reasoned it would give the push-pull that I needed. I would just drop out the nose wheel steering part of the linkage. After many revisions on the drafting board with the pedals shown in full deflection, I came up with a fairly simple design, using a bell crank under the front deck and two adjustable rods similar to the flap linkage.
Building the Push-Pull Rudder System
Modifying the rudder pedals during construction was easy. The basic design is two levers welded to the horizontal rudder pedal tubes, attached to a bearing bell crank mounted to the middle rib under the instrument panel. There are doublers in the panel rib similar to those used for the canopy support tube. As mentioned, two control rods attached from the bell crank from the left and right horizontal rudder pedal tubes levers. The adjustable control rods are also used for tensioning the cables. The last part of this design is a foot yoke that goes over the top of my right foot so I can pull the right rudder pedal moving the rudder left. The yoke is attached with two AN-3 bolts through welded bosses in the right rudder pedal tube. If you happen to be a right leg amputee you would mount the foot yoke on the left pedal. The neat part is I can remove the two bolts, the bell crank and push rods and the plane reverts to a standard RV.
ConclusionsThe hand brake design works really well. I don't have the issues that some pilots have with riding the toe brakes and I can turn on a dime. In crosswind conditions it adds to controllability without excessive brake drag. The only change that might be useful for smaller/weaker pilots would be to add a little more mechanical advantage to reduce application force. Bleeding the brakes was not a problem, and after solving a couple leaking fittings, I was good to go. I also would recommend using a Matco parking brake for additional safety. I plan to add one during the first annual. The system wasn't cheap. It added almost $350 in cost and about 4 pounds in weight.
While the hand brake system scores a 9.5 out of 10, the push-pull rudder system only scores a 7 out of 10. Why? Well, it's that big rudder Van designed for the -7A. For taxi and crosswind landings up to 10 or 15 mph, it works well. For anything more than that, I do not have enough pull strength in my right leg to get full deflection. I still tend to use my left prosthetic leg on windy days to get more left rudder as needed, but for now I also carefully plan my trips and if the winds or weather exceeds my comfort zone, I don't fly. I am getting more skilled at flying in adverse conditions, but I am expanding the envelope carefully. Again, nothing is free and this revision added about $200 in cost and 4 pounds of weight, not to mention many additional hours in build time.
There are many pilots before me that have overcome serious handicaps, and they were a great inspiration to me. I remember an article about a paraplegic builder that converted his RV6 to all hand controls.....throttle, rudder, brakes and control stick. And a taildragger to boot - amazing! If he can do it, I can do it. My point is, if there is something getting in the way or your dream, just keep working towards it with determination and it will happen. Every day that I fly "Redhawk", I am truly amazed with the harmony and design of this beautiful plane. The only issue I have now is I can't get rid of this huge "grin" on my face. If you want to see more pictures of the build, they are at www.mykitlog.com/carlbell ".
Truly inspirational to all of us to keep on reaching for our dreams, and never give up.
Keep on RV-N,
Buzz
RV-Nation
Best RV8 Military Cockpit I Have Seen
RV-Nation is all about showing off our beautiful RV's and telling everyone how we made them beautiful. So one day, when I was surfing the web for great looking RV ideas, I came across this RV8. It had so many features and cool ideas, it drove me to show all that follow this blog those ideas as well. So get ready to drop your jaw, and if you so choose to duplicate the efforts of the builder, get ready to drop a few bills as well. But the fame and fortune that will soon follow will be more than enough for your efforts.....well maybe not the fortune part.
The RV8 at hand had been built and developed over a long period of time, and in that development, had taken on an identity of its own. The name that was given to it, or that it had earned, was "Smokey". The proud owner and creator of this amazing craft is Don McNamara. I emailed Don and asked him all about his RV8 and all its cool features, and he was more than happy to talk about it a bit and share how he came about developing such a unique plane.
"Smokey" sports a military paint scheme, that of the Jolly Rogers F14 to be exact. But the rest of the features of this plane is all Air Force. (The Navy always seem to have better paint schemes for some reason, but that's about where it all ends usually....haha.) Gooo Air Force. But, I digress.
So, let's get back to the RV8, shall we? The interior of this plane is where all the fun is. For that I am going to give the honors to Don, in his own words, as he described his plane to me via email.
"While the paint scheme of "Smokey" is that of an F-14 Tomcat squadron, it's impossible to find cockpit parts from Tomcats because we sold them to the Iranians, and we don't want them to have spares. However, we sold F-16s to our allies, so parts are more plentiful. I picked up parts over the years at Oshkosh and on eBay, and more recently from an online F-16 simulator site. The ICP, for example -- which stands for Integrated Control Panel -- is front and center in the F-16 panel and directs what the pilot sees on the HUD, as well as other things. Mine slides over my Garmin 496 for static display.
The simulated HUD is directly above that. The black rectangular things on either side of the HUD are indexers, again from an F-16. The left one gives angle of attack (AOA) info and the right one is for in-flight refueling and nosewheel steering indication, neither of which I need. The mirrors are standard military stock, and the stick grip and throttle control are F-16. From the stick I can start the engine, trim the plane, communicate on the radio and disconnect the autopilot. The ejection seat handles I just made out of wood and painted for static display at Oshkosh. I had started making an ACES II ejection seat out of aluminum, but gave up. I may someday resurrect the project."
WOW! That is quite a plane, and quite an imagination to create, or should I say re-create, the cockpit of an F-16 into that of an RV8. Don is now sporting the ultimate Weekend Warrior plane per se, and I'd say that it looks down right awesome. I wonder if he has some other secret armaments in there that he hasn't told us about? Hmmm, maybe. I liked the ideas so much, in fact, that I want to implement some of these ideas in my own plane, a Harmon Rocket, when it is completed. I hope that I have the creativity and craftsmanship as does Don when I do.
Well, this particular blog entry was meant to be a lasting tribute to Don and his beautiful RV8 "Smokey". I hope that I have done the creator and plane justice, as his craftsmanship simply has been a work of art and his RV8 is just gorgeous. Great Job Don!
-- Buzz
Friday, December 28, 2012
Start or Join an RVN Fighter or Bomber Group in Your Area
Why Start an RVN Fighter or a Bomber Group
Relive the glorious days of yester-year and honor the members of your WWII Fighter or Bomber Group at the same time. We love to fly our "little fighter planes" every chance we get. What better way to live the "grass roots of aviation" and to grow the interest of building and flying RV's than to have a blast being a Weekend Warrior, reliving the magnificent flying "missions" as your RV group flies out on designated weekends to invade the establishments of the "Hundred Dollar Hamburgers", all the while learning about and honoring those who preceded you in the days of WWII. Why start a Fighter or Bomber Group? Because it's all about the "Grass Roots of Flying", builds camaraderie and friendships, helps give RV builders more incentive to complete their projects, gives back to our community by honoring those service men and women that preceded us.....and it's fun!!
How to Start an RVN Fighter or a Bomber Group
It’s very easy to start a Fighter or a Bomber Group in your area! The most important things you need are a genuine love for RV's, enthusiasm, camaraderie, an interest in the Grass Roots of Aviation and the desire to share this interest with other people in your community. Your first step is to bring together just ten people interested in Van's Aircraft RV's. Members of your Fighter or Bomber Group must also be members of RV Nation.
Next, just click on either the Fighter Group or the Bomber Group tabs to the left and fill out the form email: Start Fighter Group or Start Bomber Group. RV Nation will then contact you to take a few minutes to learn more about your local RV aviation interests, discuss the formation process and review the contents of our Fighter or Bomber kit. It's that simple! Don't just sit around the hangar and hangar talk, start a Fighter or Bomber Group today, and lead your squadron of RV's on weekly missions of fun!
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Builder Tip - Building an Extended RV4 Baggage Compartment
After about a year of flying my RV4 and being frustrated that I couldn't carry anything in the baggage compartment for being too small, I decided to finally do something about it. I had heard that many builders had taken the rear baggage compartment bulkhead out and continued the baggage compartment back to the rear of the plane. So, this is what I set out to do.
There were many things to think about when making a change like this, the biggest of course it a weight and balance issue is created. I started thinking about when I travelled, what were the items that I could not fit into my RV? The heavier luggage I never had any difficulty with, because it always was stored in the larger bin area behind the rear seat. But once that area was full, things like pillows, sleeping bags, my 2 person tent, and extra pair of shoes, and things of that nature were the items that would not fit.
These items were not really heavy. If I were to place my pillow and the far aft of the plane, followed by my sleeping bag, then the tent, and all the other stuff being lose, more towards the front, that would put all light stuff in the rear of the plane and all heavier stuff towards the front. Hmmm, sounds like it could work. But the wise thing to do at this point, would be to calculate the weight and balance for the aircraft, and then calculate what the extended baggage compartment would do to the weight and balance. Then, if everything was ok, determine the limitations.
So, that is what was done. Here are the calculations with the added extended baggage compartment.
Notice for the ARM I used 165 for the extended baggage compartment. I used this number because there was no way all the weight of an item placed back there would be at the 170 mark. Therefore, moving the center of the possible furthest aft weight up to the 165 mark seemed more plausible. I used all weights at their maximum to see what it would do to my CG, and as you can tell, the CG still was at 73, well within limits. I very rarely, if ever, carried bags that weighed 50 pounds, and never in my life carried a pillow that weighed 15 pounds.
So, now that the numbers were acceptable, what about the construction of the extended baggage compartment? I removed the aft baggage compartment bulkhead. This provided access to the rear of the plane.
Some things to consider at this point were....1) I did not want to build anything that would hinder the operation of the control rods for the elevators, 2) I still wanted to have access to all moving parts in the rear of the plane for inspection purposes, 3) I did not want to hinder the static ports that were located above the longerons in the next bay back.
Taking all of these things into consideration, I proceeded to make a shelf out of aluminum sheet that was braced with stiffeners, the same way we stiffened the control surfaces like the rudder and the elevators. This worked out nicely. Then I riveted a brace to the further aft bulkhead so that it would hold the new shelf in place. Fitting my body back into the baggage compartment was a real challenge, and on the more-times-than-not occasion that I squeezed myself back into that God forsaken hole, just to realize that I had forgotten a tool, I became very good at waiting for the next passer-by to hand me my tools.
I drilled holes into the longerons and bolted the sides of the extended baggage compartment to them, so that I could remove them later for inspections. Once everything was bolted in place, the last piece of the puzzle had to be installed. There was still a gaping hole at the rear bulkhead where baggage, shoes, or anything else I could have back there, could find its way to hinder the movement of the elevator control rod. I considered how I was going to close this area up for sometime, as climbing back into that abyss was not desirable, as well as resting my 200 pounds on that shelf would not be favorable as well. I decided upon a better route. I purchased a 3 inch piece of foam, and made a pillow out of it that who fit very snugly into place at the rear bulkhead. The pillow could not be pushed through the hole, as it was a firm foam. I put the same material on it as my seats, and decided to embroider my seat logo on it as well just to give it that personal touch. It worked like a charm and was super easy to install, requiring just a broom handle to push it into place.
Carpeting on the new shelf helped to dampen the noise coming from the back of the plane, and helped to make it more esthetic.
Here is a picture of the finished product for my extended baggage compartment.
My new extended baggage compartment turned out really nicely. With all the added space, I could easily carry a set of golf clubs (accept I don't golf), but more apres peau, I could carry my gas powered Go-ped scooter strapped in place, so that I had cool transportation when I arrived at my destination.
I hope that this helps you with building an extended baggage compartment in your plane, but I will also strongly advise that you calculate the weight and balance numbers on your plane first, as all experimental planes are different.
Happy building!
-- Buzz --
Builder Tip - Tailwheel Chains Adjustment
If you are using chains for your rudder to tailwheel linkages, this is a good way to adjust them so that you get a good and proper tension on both sides. This builder tip was given by Ron Sutton, RV4 builder and flyer.
When hooking up the two tailwheel chains, no matter how they fit, one side is loose and the other side is too tight. Add a link to the tight side to make both sides loose. Take an awl and push it into the round part of each link and slightly spread the link apart. Do this to all the links until the slack is eliminated on both chains, and making it so that both chains don't exert any pressure on the return springs. Check the alignment of the rudder against the center line of the aircraft and the tailwheel itself. To fine tune the alignment, squeeze the links on the tight side, or spread the links on the loose side. This way you will have 100% travel of the rudder and the tailwheel in unison on the ground.
"Yaw String"
When hooking up the two tailwheel chains, no matter how they fit, one side is loose and the other side is too tight. Add a link to the tight side to make both sides loose. Take an awl and push it into the round part of each link and slightly spread the link apart. Do this to all the links until the slack is eliminated on both chains, and making it so that both chains don't exert any pressure on the return springs. Check the alignment of the rudder against the center line of the aircraft and the tailwheel itself. To fine tune the alignment, squeeze the links on the tight side, or spread the links on the loose side. This way you will have 100% travel of the rudder and the tailwheel in unison on the ground.
"Yaw String"
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