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!

Click HERE to order yours NOW!

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!

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

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

RV Nation

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!

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"

RV-Nation's Year In Review

I would have to say that 2012 was really an incredible year. When I first decided to write this post, I was not so sure about that. But when I started thinking about all the things that have been accomplished, and the people that I have met, I realized that this year was something of a standout.

I have had a blast creating the idea of establishing a "Grass Roots" family of RVers that fly together, start new friendships based on a common ground, and do things that are exciting and fun, and at the same time, give back to our community. RV Nation has been a blast to develop.

Since the idea was implemented, the following things have been accomplished:

   1) I have met some really fun and incredible people along the way, like Bill Englert and Sheryl Booth. I visited them at their airpark in Advance, NC and got a chance to see their beautiful RV4 and their very cool hangar which housed the window section of an airliner as the windows in Bill's office. Wow! I want one of those!

  2) I met Jim Booth from Hickory, NC, who donated a fuselage jig for my son's RV4, and a wing stand as well. He and I enjoyed a leisurely lunch at the Hickory Airport together and had a chance to talk some RV-talk, and then he showed me his newly built RV4. And so many others! It has been a pleasure to meet you all!

  3) 298 core people have joined RV Nation on Facebook, and contribute ideas and thoughts on a daily basis. It is great to see all the enthusiasm and to see their RV projects progress daily as they post pictures on the site.

  4) Our new website, RV-Nation, was built, and is growing quickly. I have found that it is difficult to build a website that people want to go see on a daily basis and contribute their ideas to it as well. Making the RV Nation the kind of site that all RVers will want to visit often continues to be my goal, and I think will take the thoughts and input of many rather than just me. And I am ok with that, because after all, the whole idea is to bring RVers together.

  5) One of the coolest things that is on the RV Nation site is the RVN Fighter and Bomber Groups. The idea was established after thinking about EAA Groups. I have been to many EAA group meetings and have been a member of a few EAA Chapters as well. A whole lot of talking and not much doing! Now, I know that this may not be the case for all EAA Chapters, but for the many that I have been to, it certainly was. Hardly any building happening, hardly any flying on a regular basis happening, and when the meeting was over, everyone went their separate ways, not to see each other again until the next month, when we did it all over again. Just wasn't my idea of fun. Then I talked with Mike Brewster out of Sacramento, CA. He told me of a group of people he was friends with that all had RVs and would all go out and fly to a designated restaurant every weekend. I thought, "How cool is that?" That sounds like a lot of fun. So, I began to think of some ways that I could implement something like that, and make it even more fun.

I began to look at Team Aerodynamix, formerly Team RV. Folks, they are having the times of their lives. They all dress the part, fly their planes, meet their fans, give back to their community, and are becoming celebrities in so doing. Then the idea came to me. Not everyone feels comfortable flying formation flying. But everyone loves to fly their RVs in a group. I came up with the idea of establishing Fighter Groups and Bomber Groups so that owners of RVs can establish them in their area, attract other  RVers, and begin to establish a camaraderie of RV friends. The Fighter Groups and the Bomber Groups are named after the actual Groups from WWII. I have attached the history of the group to the Group number on the RV Nation site.  So, at the same time we are flying our RVs around the country, we are honoring the people that were in the actual WWII Fighter or Bomber Group before us at the same time. We can take it as far as we'd like. Just like Team Aerodynamix has and a few other formation groups have done as well, the RV Nation Fighter Groups and Bomber Groups can be a recognizable entity of RVers that fly together, have established good friendships and are there for one another, and gives back to their community as well. All it takes is participation and enthusiasm.

  6) This year we held our first RV Nation fly-in at the Deerfield Resort in Tennessee. We had over 60 people in attendance. 18 RVs flew in for the event and enjoyed some very good BBQ and listened to some music provided by Shake Ragg. It was a gorgeous day to fly, and the weather was perfect. The RVs were beautiful, all shined up. Many thanks to all that came, it was a lot of fun seeing and meeting you all.

  7) My son decided that he wanted to build an RV4 this year. That was an extremely exciting day for me too as I have been building for a very long time. I built planes with my dad years ago, and it was some of the most memorable times being their with him. I know how the attention span is for a teenager, so I did not expect my son to stay as enthused as I am about building. So, I started talking about his interest in building a plane and showed some pictures of his plane going together to some members of my class at school, and found that their were many kids that were interested in that kind of thing as well. Most of the kids in my class are 12 through 14 years old, a little young for building planes. But not too young for developing interest in aviation. My wife and I decided to implement STEM camps this summer to introduce kids to building and testing projects. Through camps like this, kids will learn basic intrinsic mathematical skills to construct bottle rockets, mousetrap vehicles, elastic gliders and other fun things to compete with at the end of the day. Should be a blast for the kids as well as a stepping stone for those that want to take it to the next level and get into building actual airplanes.

  8) My Harmon Rocket progress continues. It has been a long and arduous build. I have someone building it for me at this time, but that is going to change soon. I miss the times building and creating my plane, and want to have it back so that I can continue the build to its completion. The fuel tanks are completed and the wings are being buttoned up. I am ready to start the fuselage here in North Carolina.

  9) This year saw the development and completion of something I have wanted to do for a very long time. I have never liked the looks of the old standard pitot tubes used on almost every plane out there. I think they are uglier than ugly. And since we build our planes with the utmost of care and custom design everything we can, I decided to finally design a new pitot tube that will be used on my Harmon Rocket and my son's RV4. I bought a B-1 Bomber pitot tube off the internet, took some measurements, and proceeded to build my pitot tube. After 3 iterations of designs, the final product was realized. And I have to say, it really looks good!

  10) I leave the best accomplishment for last. In a world where so many evil and horrific things happen, it is so very nice to be a part of a community of RVers that are all such incredible people. I have met many of you in person, and many more through chatting on Facebook. It is such a pleasure to call you all friends. I look forward to hearing all your stories and accomplishments, seeing the first flights, flying with you all, and most importantly, growing in RV friendship style as the new year approaches.

Yes, this year has been a good one, and I am eagerly looking forward to next year. Thank you all for being the best RV community in the world. With 2012 coming to a close, and 2013 almost here, my family and I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year! Let's make 2013 the best ever! All it takes is participation and enthusiasm. I'll see you all there!

--Buzz--